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PRINCETON,  N.  J.  f$ 


Presented   by  VV*o\.  O .  W .  &\~c\rr>.  c7\r^"33:X. 

Division  ..JJ>J^?..'..T^  ' 
Section  —^rrr. 


/'  isv      /s?  f )  isis**rv     GjO/v^V* 


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yKJz^n^  &  ^s      }k«-^. 


JAN 


A  Restoration  of  the 
Drama  of  Canticles 


AAA 


With    Copious    Notes         a         a 


Also  an  Essay  on 


The  Calf  Cult  of  Northern  Israel 


By 

WILLIAM  "DEARNESS 


Cincinnati 

The  Ebbert  &  Richardson  Co. 

Publishers 

191 1 


Copyright,  1911 
By  William  Dearness 


TO 

HIS  EXCELLENCY 

WOODROW  WILSON 

Governor  of  New  'Jersey 

This  volume  is,  with  his  kind  permission, 
respectfully  dedicated 


FOREWORD 

THE  notes  appended  are  for  the  purpose  of  making  clear 
some  local  and  biblical  references  and  for  defending 
the  construction  of  the  present  paraphrase,  which,  as  far 
as  possible,  avoids  any  of  the  questions  regarding  the  interpre- 
tation of  the  book. 

The  "Song  of  Solomon"  is  treated  as  literature,  nothing 
more  or  in  any  way  different  from  what  it  appears  to  be  at  first 
sight;  there  is  no  meaning  read  into  it,  neither  is  it  made  to 
favor  any  commentator's  views,  however  scholarly  he  may  be. 

The  fragmentary  condition  of  the  text  called  for  connective 
tissue ;  the  heroine  was  evidently  one  person,  but  the  different 
attitudes  and  the  conflicting  proposals  of  the  male  characters 
demanded  that  persons  to  whom  a  classification  of  the  speeches 
would  make  it  possible  to  assign  that  which  was  proper  to  them, 
should  be  discovered. 

The  translator  claims  the  original  discovery  of  the  eunuch 
or  chamberlain;  the  father  of  the  heroine  has  never  hitherto 
been  brought  to  light ;  and  the  structure  as  well  as  the  purpose 
of  the  last  chapter  is  now  for  the  first  time  brought  into  relation- 
ship with  the  rest  of  the  book.  Indeed,  the  destructive  school 
of  critics  have  in  some  instances  proposed  the  taking  of  it  away 
from  the  book,  leaving  this  detached  portion  to  shift  for  itself, 
thinking  that  it  is  one  of  the  earliest  of  the  "pious  frauds"  in 
which  an  obscure  writer  endeavors  to  attach  his  production  to 
a  famous  one,  and  so  obtain  an  unacknowledged  immortality. 

The  translator,  in  carefully  examining  the  book,  untram- 
meled  by  tradition,  found  "Canticles"  to  be  a  love  story  which 
may  have  been  quite  intelligible  to  those  who  heard  it  two 

5 


thousand  years  ago,  since  they  could  supply  from  their  own 
knowledge  of  men  and  things  much  which  the  writer  of  the 
book  has  purposely  omitted  on  that  account. 

Whatever  measure  of  success  may  be  credited  to  this  work 
is,  therefore,  the  result  of  the  labor  to  rediscover  the  cast  of 
characters ;  to  give  each  one  his  part,  and  then  to  develop  the 
story  by  reasonable  supposition,  bearing  in  mind  that  any  He- 
braistic drama  must  be  rudimentary  in  its  structure,  and,  being 
biblical,  artificial  situations  are  inadmissible. 

After  reading  the  manuscript  before  the  Presbyterian  Min- 
isters' Association  of  Cincinnati,  the  writer  sent  it  to  Dr.  Paul 
Carus,  of  Chicago,  who  pronounced  it  "very  ingenious,"  but 
intimated  his  dissent  from  the  dramatic  theory,  which  he  said 
had  been  discarded  by  modern  scholars. 

Dr.  R.  J.  Cooke,  who  is  book  editor  of  the  Methodist  Book 
Concern,  of  Cincinnati,  next  examined  the  work  and  wrote  to 
the  managers  of  that  institution  his  opinion  of  the  drama :  "The 
writer  has  undertaken  the  most  difficult  of  biblical  tasks  and 
has  accomplished  it."  Dr.  Thorpe,  of  Pittsburg,  perused  it  dur- 
ing a  transatlantic  voyage,  and,  giving  it  back  to  the  fellow- 
passenger  from  whom  he  had  borrowed  it,  remarked :  "I  have 
read  it  and  reread  it,  and  prefer  it  to  the  prose  version  in  our 
Bibles." 

The  writer,  on  the  invitation  of  Rev.  Dr.  Kohler,  president 
of  the  Hebrew  Union  College,  Cincinnati,  read  the  work  to  the 
faculty  and  students  of  that  institution,  receiving  at  the  close 
some  valuable  advice  from  the  faculty,  which  was  taken  advan- 
tage of  without  delay. 

The  manuscript  next  found  its  way  into  the  Pontifical  Col- 
lege Josephinum,  Columbus,  Ohio,  where  Rev.  John  Molitor, 
D.  D.,  and  Rev.  Father  Bean  subjected  language,  structure  and 

6 


translation  to  a  most  searching  criticism,  resulting  in  several 
important  alterations,  all  of  which  were  improvements.  How- 
ever, it  should  be  mentioned  that  Rabbi  Feldman,  in  the  Hebrew 
Union  College  presentation,  while  approving  fully  of  the  whole 
drama  in  all  its  scope,  objected  to  a  paraphrase;  while  Father 
Bean  expressed  his  preference  for  a  drama  in  blank  verse,  being 
satisfied  with  the  translation  and  structure. 

Two  young  gentlemen  from  Dublin,  Ireland,  read  the  drama 
while  on  the  way  to  Princeton  University  and  requested  that 
they  be  allowed  to  submit  it  to  their  instructors,  which  resulted 
in  a  high  eulogy  from  Professor  Erdman,  commending  the 
poetic  diction,  but  not  committing  himself  to  the  structure; 
while  Dr.  John  Davis,  finding  no  fault  with  the  work  as  a  whole, 
would  have  preferred  a  more  modern  style  of  versification. 
Several  suggestions  and  corrections  proposed  by  him  were  gladly 
adopted. 

But  it  remained  for  the  Rev.  Dr.  Berkowitz,  of  Philadelphia, 
chancellor  of  the  Jewish  Chautauqua,  to  pronounce  on  the  work 
so  encouragingly  as  to  hasten  the  determination  to  publish  it. 

The  following  extract  from  the  letter  will  best  exhibit  the 
estimate  of  the  value  of  "A  Restoration  of  the  Drama  of  Can- 
ticles" from  the  highest  Semitic  authority  with  which  the  writer 
is  acquainted : 

I  thank  you  for  the  privilege  of  reading  the  manuscript,  and 
am  free  to  declare  that  it  appeals  to  me  very  strongly,  in  that  it 
brings  out  so  many  of  the  poetical  beauties  of  the  "Song  of 
Songs,"  which  the  usual  literalism  utterly  fails  to  discover. 
The  luxuriant  oriental  fancy  overflows  in  glowing  pictures 
which  the  prosaic  occidental  mind  rarely  appreciates.  You  are 
rendering  service  as  an  appreciative  interpreter  of  the  East  to 
the  West.     I  hope  you  will  succeed.       Yours  truly 

(Signed)  Henry  Berkowitz. 


PREFACE 

THE  youthful  reader  of  the  Scriptures  might  be  pardoned 
were  he  to  complain  that,  in  the  sacred  writings,  adoles- 
cent love,  so  prominent  in  his  mind,  is  left  almost  un- 
mentioned,  while  every  nobler  and  baser  aspect  of  human  life 
is  exhibited  and  discussed. 

In  the^story  of  Ruth,  there  is  an  evidence  of  passionate  love 
for  (Jfiiiton  in  her  devoted  attachment  to  his  mother,  Naomi, 
when,  in  such  exquisite  language,  she  relinquishes  her  native 
land,  its  religious  customs,  its  social  enjoyments  and  her  rela- 
tionships for  those  of  her  departed  husband.  The  story,  thus 
far  beautiful  in  the  extreme,  suffers  from  her  descent  into  a 
commonplace,  economic  and  merely  legal  union  with  Boaz, 
brought  about  by  unconventional  scheming,  which  disappoints 
the  sentimental  young  reader. 

Isaac  loved  Rebekah,  we  are  told,  but  wooing  and  wedding 
seem  to  have  taken  place  on  the  same  day.  Jacob  may  have  had 
many  delightful  interviews  with  Rachel  during  their  protracted 
and  not  uneventful  courtship,  but  not  a  scene  nor  word  has 
come  down  to  us.  Michal,  the  younger  daughter  of  Saul,  is 
said  to  have  loved  David  while,  as  yet,  he  was  the  designated 
husband  of  her  elder  sister,  Merab ;  and  when  the  former  had 
been  taken  from  David  after  their  marriage  and  subsequently 
retrieved  for  him,  there  is  a  touch  of  the  melodramatic  in  the 
scene  where  her  young  husband,  Paltiel,  weeping  as  he  went, 
accompanies  her  as  far  as  Abner  would  permit  him. 

Much  may  be  read  into  the  second  verse  of  the  first  chapter 
of  Hosea,  where  we  have  either  the  command  or  permission  of 
Jehovah  for  the  prophet  to  wed  the  profligate  Gomer.     It  is  not 

9 


a  rare  thing  for  high  spirituality  to  seek  its  mate  with  its  antip- 
odes. The  poet  loves  a  beautiful  woman  as  he  loves  all  other 
things  beautiful,  only  more  so,  and  he  is  too  generous  to  fear 
consequences  that  harder  natures  see  and  shun.  Jehovah  allows 
the  union  to  take  place,  then  making  use  of  Hosea's  sad  expe- 
rience to  tell,  as  no  other  man  could  tell,  the  love  and  forbear- 
ance, the  pity  and  forgiveness,  the  expostulations  and  warn- 
ings bestowed  by  Jehovah  on  ungrateful,  unfaithful  and  incon- 
stant Israel.  But  it  is  not  the  kind  of  a  love  story  which  delights 
youth. 

Jehovah,  in  severing  the  living  bond  between  Ezekiel  and 
"the  light  of  thine  eyes,"  may  have  extinguished  that  which 
had  a  dawn  well  worth  reading,  but  again  the  great  purpose  is  a 
lesson,  and  we  may  not  tarry  over  minor  detail  when  Jehovah 
teaches.  Jehovah  wishes  Ezekiel  to  describe  the  divine  bereave- 
ment in  the  loss  of  his  beloved  Israel,  but  the  experience  of  the 
latter  prophet  is  very  different,  though  the  message  be  similar. 
The  hand  that  delivers  the  stroke  dries  the  tears. 

In  Bible  times  there  was  a  betrothal  period  which  this  book 
of  ours  contemplates,  and  gives  us  in  scene  and  language  all 
that  may  be  purposely  left  out  of  the  rest  of  the  Scriptures. 
But  then  it  is  rich  in  sentiment,  expressive  in  language,  warm 
in  affection,  and  wholesome  in  its  lesson,  beyond  any  ancient  or 
modern  love  story.  That  it  has  been  in  the  thraldom  of  tra- 
dition and  withheld  so  long  is  a  pity,  but  that  misfortune  or  pri- 
vation is  ended. 


10 


a)A  Restoration  of  the  Drama  of  Canticles 

d)The  Song  of  Songs,  which  is  Solomon's 


«a^v-j=sj 


Dramatis  Personae 

Solomon King  of  all  Israel 

Dodah(3) A  shepherd  betrothed  to  Abishag 

Ahishar(4) Chamberlain  to  Solomon 

Abimael(5) Father  of  Abishag,  a  man  of  Issachar 

Deborah Mother  of  Abishag 

Abishag(6) The  most  beautiful  woman  in  Israel 

Daughters  of  Jerusalem Members  of  Solomon's  harem 

Date  —  Early  in  the  reign  of  Solomon. 

Place  —  Tirzah,  a  town  in  Issachar,  at  one  time  capital 
of  the  Northern  Kingdom. 

Time  —  Six  days. 


11 


CANTICLES 

First  Day<7) 

Scene —  The  royal  residence  temporarily  at  Tirsah. 

The  heroine  is  brought  into  the  house  where  the  king  with  his  retinue 
are  sojourning. 

At  first  there  is  no  evidence  that  she  is  there  unwillingly ;  she  is 
welcomed  by  a  chorus  of  women  of  the  harem  with  real  or  well-simu- 
lated heartiness,  to  which  she  responds,  acknowledging  the  high  honor 
conferred  upon  her. 

After  the  exhilaration  incidental  to  the  occasion  has  in  some  measure 
subsided,  she  contrasts  her  sunburnt  complexion  with  that  of  the  court 
ladies,  making  a  poetic  apology  reviewing  the  conditions  and  circum- 
stances of  her  peasant  life,  and  the  Daughters  of  Jerusalem  retire. 

Thinking  herself  to  be  alone,  she  indulges  in  a  monologue  in  which 
it  transpires  that  jealousy  on  the  part  of  her  shepherd  lover  has  led  to  a 
temporary  estrangement,  and  she  longs  for  a  reconciliation. 

Her  soliloquy  is  overheard  by  the  eunuch  of  the  harem,  who  is  now 
for  the  first  time  introduced  to  Bible  students  as  the  missing  link  of 
the  drama,  solving  easily  the  "enigma"  of  Old  Testament  literature. 

This  character,  of  whom  we  have  many  examples  in  the  Bible,  some 
of  them  eminent,  able  statesmen,  is  sustained  in  the  present  drama  by 
Ahishar,  who  is  named,  I  Kings  iv :  6,  as  the  controller  of  Solomon's 
household. 

Ahishar  overhears  Abishag,  and,  true  to  the  description  of  this  class 
of  people  all  through  history,  "worships  the  rising  sun"  by  favoring  the 
favorite  and  tells  the  heroine  how,  in  the  habit  and  pursuit  of  a  shep- 
herdess, and  following  his  directions,  she  may  meet  Dodah,  the  man  to 
whom  she  is  betrothed. 

Before  she  can  act  on  this  advice,  Solomon  comes  on  the  scene  and 
is  much  impressed  with  her  beauty.  Judging  her  taste  by  that  of  the 
other  court  beauties,  he  promises  her  abundance  of  ornamental  jewelry. 

According  to  oriental  custom,  the  latest  addition  to  the  harem  waits 
on  the  king's  pleasure  at  a  sumptuous  repast;  but  the  languor  of  an 
eastern  monarch  passes  into  slumber  as  he  reclines ;    during  this  space 

13 


the  heroine  in  monologue  recalls  the  memories  of  days  passed  in  the 
enjoyment  of  real  affection  with  her  betrothed. 

Solomon  now  wakens  and  again  compliments  her.  Abishag  (aside), 
picturing  the  delights  of  rural  life,  turns  to  the  king  and  complains  that 
she  has  been  forced  into  his  presence,  to  which  Solomon  replies  in 
further  but  fruitless  compliment,  and  retires,  sending  in  the  Daughters 
of  Jerusalem,  or  members  of  his  harem,  to  persuade  Abishag  into 
acquiescence. 

To  them  Abishag  responds  in  an  eloquent  eulogy  of  Dodah,  con- 
cluding with  a  passionate  appeal  to  their  forbearance. 

Opening  Chorus  — "Daughters  of  Jerusalem." 
Oh !  let  his  mouth  my  lips  salute 
With  kisses  which  his  love  impute, 
That  love  to  which  my  soul  aspires, 
It  more  than  wine  my  tongue  inspires. (8) 

Like  fragrance  from  a  thousand  flowers 
Thy  choice  perfume  my  soul  o'erpowers, 
As  oil  poured  forth  with  fragrant  nard 
Thy  name's  pronounced  with  fond  regard, 
The  virgins  love  thee  fondly,  too, 
Resistless  drawn  thy  steps  pursue. 

Abishag  (the  heroine)  — 
Into  his  palace,  lo,  the  king 
His  humble  friend  vouchsafes  to  bring. 

Daughters  of  Jerusalem  — 
Now  in  thy  favor  we  rejoice, 
Thy  love  's  the  theme  of  every  voice, 
That  more  than  wine  our  song  inspires, 
Yea!   love  our  richest  note  requires, 
14 


In  uprightness  that  love  's  bestowed, 
From  righteous  thoughts  affection  flowed. 

Abishag  — 

Oh !    Salem's  daughters,  kindly  view 
My  cheeks  that  swarthy  seem  to  you. 
Yea!  black  as  Kedar's  goat's-hair  tents(9) 
Or  drapery  that  the  light  prevents 
In  Solomon's  environments, 
For  burning  suns  from  day  to  day 
My  comely  face  made  darkening  prey, 
My  mother's  sons  me  drave  afield, 
Unfair  obedience  caused  me  yield, 
Their  vineyards  tended  while  my  own 
Neglected  lay  with  weeds  o'ergrown. 

(Exit  Daughters.) 

(Abishag  soliloquizes  and  is  overheard  by  Ahishar.) 

Ah !  that  my  soul's  loved  guest 
Showed  where  his  flocks  frequent, 

Where  have  their  noontide  rest, 
Thence  should  my  steps  be  bent. 

Why  should  I  grieve  alone, 

Veiled  from  the  world  and  thee, 
Though  with  their  flocks  I've  gone, 

Thy  friends  were  naught  to  me. 

(Ahishar  discovers  himself.) 
Ahishar  — 

Fairest  of  womankind, 

Why  so  oppressed  with  care? 

15 


Go !    and  thy  love  thou  'It  find, 

Surely  thou  'It  find  him  there. 
Follow  the  flocks'  footprints 

On  to  the  camping  ground, 
There  by  the  shepherds'  tents 

Feeding  thy  kids  be  found. 

(Exit  Ahishar,  the  chamberlain.) 

(Enter  Solomon.) 
Solomon  — 

O,  my  friend,  so  lithe  and  fair. 

Like  the  steeds  in  Pharaoh's  host, 
Grand  thy  cheeks  with  braided  hair, 
Jewels  on  thy  bust  were  lost ; 
We'll  with  gold  and  silver  deck 
Lavishly  thy  head  and  neck. 

(Abishag  waits  on  Solomon  at  table.) 
Abishag  (aside)  — 

In  richest  state  the  king  reclines, 

Rare  viands  his  repast  compose, 
My  spikenard's  sweetest  smell  combines 
With  those  to  charm  him  to  repose. 

My  absent  love  is  like  the  vine 

And  sweetly  smelling  copher  flower, 

That  by  Engedi's  springs  entwine,  (10) 
To  form  a  grateful,  restful  bower. 

My  bunch  of  myrrh,  my  henna  flower, 
Thy  fancied  presence  cherished  still 

Between  my  breasts  till  morning  hour, 
Shall  with  delights  my  bosom  fill. 

16 


(Solomon  awakes  and  renews  his  compliments.) 
Solomon  — 
Behold  thou  'rt  fair;   thou  'rt  fair,  my  friend; 
Thine  orbs  the  eyes  of  doves  transcend. 

Abishag  (aside)  — 

My  heart  a  resting  place  has  found 
Where  pastures  green  and  flocks  abound ; 
There  stands  a  cot  of  cedars  framed. 
And  cypress  thatched  which  me  has  claimed ; 
Such  rustic  scenes  content  me  well, 
And  there  my  love  and  I  shall  dwell. 

(To  Solomon,  complainingly.) 
A  rose,  I'm  reft  from  Sharon's  plain, 
A  valley  lily,  lone  remain. 

Solomon  (ossuringly)  — 
Like  lily  blooming  midst  the  thorns, 
My  friend,  the  Daughters'  band  adorns. 

(Exit  Solomon.) 

(Enter  Daughters,  and  to  them  Abishag.) 
Abishag  — 

Better  than  grandeur  of  the  wood, 
The  generous,  fruitful  apple  tree, 

So  'mong  the  sons  my  dearest  stood, 
The  choicest  of  them  all  to  me. 

A  grateful  shade  for  me  he  made 
To  shelter  from  the  torrid  heat, 

17 


Ripe  clusters  for  my  wants  purveyed, 
Delighted  I  might  rest  and  eat. 

He  brought  me  where  the  choicest  wine  (11) 

And  garden  fruits  are  kept  in  store, 
He  honors  did  with  love  combine, 

And  strove  to  please  me  more  and  more. 

Away  with  wine!    I,  fainting,  cried,(12) 
My  heart  with  love  's  beyond  control, 

The  humble  raisin  cake  provide, 

Cool  citron  may  refresh  my  soul.(13) 

I  languished  till  his  manly  arms 

About  my  person  he  had  placed, 
His  left  hand  soothed  my  head's  alarms. 

His  right  my  fainting  form  embraced. 

Then  Daughters  of  Jerusalem, 

Ye  know  the  timid,  fleet  gazelles; 
True  love  is  near  akin  to  them, 

Its  movements  fraud  nor  force  compels. 

Then  I  adjure  you,  meddle  not, 

From  love's  sweet  dream  I'd  not  awake, 

My  love  can  not  be  forced  or  bought, 
It's  kept  for  him  I'll  ne'er  forsake. 

(End  of  First  Day.) 


Notes  on  First  Day 

(!)  "A  Restoration  of  the  Drama  of  Canticles." 

The  dramatic  theory  having  been  exploited,  a  mere  mention  of  the 
others  is  all  that  need  be  made. 

It  has  been  conjectured  that  the  book  is  an  eclogue  in  which  some 
shepherds  on  a  festive  occasion  vie  with  each  other  in  improvising  love 
songs.  Again,  it  has  been  set  down  as  an  idyll  of  pastoral  life  in  the 
North.  Then  another  supposes  it  to  be  an  epithalamium  celebrating  the 
marriage  of  the  daughter  of  Pharaoh  to  Solomon ;  while  yet  another 
supposes  it  to  have  been  a  poetic  drama  performed  on  some  occasion 
for  her  delectation. 

But  the  extreme  of  destructive  criticism  holds  that  the  book  exhibits 
all  that  remains,  and  that  in  defective  fragments,  of  the  love  songs 
which  the  swains  of  the  North  chanted  in  the  ears  of  the  fair,  who  do 
not  seem,  in  that  view  of  the  case,  slow  to  respond. 

(2)  "The  Song  of  Songs,  which  is  Solomon's." 

The  title  is  variously  understood  to  mean :  The  best  of  songs,  or  a 
song  composed  of  little  songs  by  Solomon,  or  regarding  Solomon.  The 
title  verse  is  not  a  part  of  the  original  text,  and  the  ascription  of  the 
authorship  to  Solomon  is  unwarranted. 

The  scribes,  who  maintained  the  popular  view  regarding  its  author- 
ship, assign  "Canticles"  to  the  youth  of  Solomon,  "Proverbs"  to  his 
mature  years,  and  "Ecclesiastes"  to  his  cynical  old  age ;  accordingly  we 
have  them  grouped  together  in  the  canon,  and  they  appear  so  in  all  trans- 
lations of  the  Bible. 

But  in  modern  Hebrew  bibles,  the  book  is  placed  with  "Ruth,"  "Job," 
"Esther,"  and  "Lamentations,"  as  part  of  the  "Megilloth,"  or  five  rolls 
appointed  to  be  read  at  the  sacred  anniversaries,  "Canticles"  being  ap- 
pointed for  the  Passover  celebration. 

The  story  of  its  transposition  is  interesting ;  for  one  thing  it  is  the 
occasion  of  the  earliest  mention  of  the  book.  The  rest  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment contains  no  references  to  it,  neither  is  it  mentioned  by  Philo,  nor 
Josephus,  although  both  must  have  seen  it  in  the  canon,  and  have  read 
even  the  Greek  translation  made  by  the  "Seventy,"  in  Alexandria,  about 
250  B.  C. 

19 


However,  at  the  first  assembly  of  Judaism  after  the  Dispersion,  held 
at  Jamnia,  A.  D.  90,  a  proposal  was  made  to  exclude  the  book  from  all 
copies  made  of  the  Bible  in  future,  probably  on  account  of  its  scandalous 
misuse  by  the  convivial  Jews  of  Alexandria,  the  pious  judging  that  the 
Eternal  would  not  have  suffered  this  profanation  of  the  book  had  it  been 
His  very  word. 

At  the  critical  moment,  the  revered  R.  Akiba  exclaimed :  "Peace  and 
mercy !  No  man  in  Israel  ever  doubted  the  sacredness  of  the  'Song  of 
Songs.'  All  the  ages  can  not  compare  with  the  day  when  the  'Song 
of  Solomon'  was  given  to  Israel.  All  Kithubim  is  holy,  but  the  'Song 
of  Songs'  is  the  holy  of  holies."  Immediately  the  sentiment  of  the 
Assembly  was  unanimous  for  its  retention,  and  the  honorable  place 
mentioned  above  assigned  to  it. 

The  book  is  not  even  noticed  by  the  most  distant  allusion  in  the  New 
Testament,  but  perhaps  it  may  be  indicated  in  the  "many  little  songs" 
referred  to  by  Jesus,  the  son  of  Sirach,  in  the  Apocrypha. 

A  number  of  superficial  commentators  have  coupled  Psalm  XLV  with 
the  book,  but  there  is  nothing  in  common  between  the  silent,  yielding 
and  gorgeously  appareled  bride  of  the  psalm,  and  the  eloquent,  independ- 
ent and  sunburnt  peasant  girl  of  Issachar. 

(3)  "Dodah." 

Readers  of  the  original  need  not  be  reminded  that  the  term  of 
affection  used  by  the  heroine  to  her  suitor  or  betrothed  is  Dodah, 
which  might  with  propriety  have  been  spelled  David,  only  for  the  con- 
fusion of  persons  which  would  result. 

If  "Canticles''  had  been  a  product  of  modern  dramatists,  the  drama 
would  have  been  rendered  sensational  by  an  invention,  in  which  the  sen- 
tence of  death  on  Adonijah  had  miscarried,  when,  fleeing  to  the  north, 
he  outgenerals  the  wisest  and  most  powerful  of  kings. 

For  the  historical  incident  see  the  note  on  "Abishag." 

(4)  "Ahishar." 

From  I  Kings  iv :  6,  we  learn  that  was  the  name  of  the  ruler  of  the 
household  of  Solomon.  Probably  in  the  establishment  of  an  extensive 
harem,  Solomon  followed  the  custom  of  all  oriental  magnates,  and  so 
fulfilled  the  warning  of  Samuel  (I  Samuel  viii :  15) . 

20 


Readers  of  history  are  well  acquainted  with  the  part  some  of  those 
persons  have  taken  in  national  as  well  as  in  household  affairs  ;  muti- 
lated and,  therefore,  in  great  measure  deprived  of  the  play  of  the  softer 
and  gentler  passions,  they  have  given  themselves  to  diplomacy  and  phi- 
losophy, and  have  often  been  chosen  to  high  honor  in  God's  service,  as 
Daniel,  the  three  companions  he  had,  Mordecai,  and  the  chamberlains  in 
charge  of  the  Hebrew  princes  while  in  preparation  for  services  in  Nebu- 
chadnezzar's household.  The  treasurer  of  Candace  and  traditional 
apostle  to  Abyssinia  may  also  be  instanced. 

However,  in  the  same  individual  there  was  often  displayed  the  ex- 
tremes of  fidelity  and  treachery,  as  occasion  might  suggest.  In  the 
drama,  some  of  the  peculiarities  of  this  class  will  demonstrate  themselves. 

The  attempts  to  dramatize  "Canticles"  have  hitherto  failed  on  account 
of  the  obstacles  interjected  by  this,  as  then  undiscovered,  participant. 
Yet  his  presence  and  identification  are  quite  plain,  now  that  the  tradi- 
tional one  character  of  either  sex  has  been  overcome.  Commentators 
tardily  acknowledge  the  discovery  of  a  rival  to  Solomon,  but  even  with 
the  additional  character,  much  that  was  impossible  remained  to  be  dis- 
posed of,  and,  disheartened,  the  dramatizer  declared  his  disbelief  in  the 
dramatic  theory. 

The  passages  which  are  unintelligible,  unless  by  the  introduction  of 
this  character,  are  chapter  i :  8,  where  the  soliloquy  of  the  heroine  is 
replied  to  by  one  who  directs  her  how  and  where  to  find  her  shepherd 
lover,  and  certainly  this  speaker  can  not  with  consistency  be  the  king, 
and  of  course  not  the  shepherd  himself:  the  speaker  is  one  with  the 
entree  of  the  household  and  not  quite  loyal  to  his  master.  In  chapter 
iii:  8,  the  women  of  the  household  ask  some  man  regarding  the  approach- 
ing demonstration  on  the  pasture  lands,  and  receive  in  reply  particulars 
which  one  in  the  position  of  chamberlain  could  best  give ;  but  he  sup- 
plements the  information  with  an  order  that  no  man  but  one  in  his 
position  might  give :     "Go  forth !    ye  daughters,"  is  his  command. 

But  no  doubt  remains  regarding  his  identity  when  the  seventh  chap- 
ter is  reached,  if  one  emerges  from  the  fogs  of  tradition  and  frees  himself 
from  the  unwillingness  to  investigate.  The  speaker  in  that  chapter  is 
not  the  king,  for  he  speaks  of  the  king  in  the  third  person ;  nor  is  it 
supposable  that  the  timid  and  retiring  shepherd  would  take  the  part,  or 
even  be  present,  on  such  an  occasion,  for  even  the  descriptive  phrase  of 

21 


the  king's  point  of  observation  shows  that  the  entertainment  was  wholly 
for  the  king's  gratification,  and  under  the  direction  of  one  well  accus- 
tomed to  the  display  to  the  highest  advantage  of  female  charms,  with- 
out being  greatly  impressed. 

Solomon  admires  the  heroine  superficially;  the  shepherd  admires  her 
appreciatively ;    the  chamberlain  professionally. 

The  writer,  in  the  discovery  and  placing  of  this  character,  believes 
he  has  solved  this  biblical  enigma,  and  has  thereby  been  enabled  to  give 
to  the  Bible  reader  a  readable  book. 

(5)  "Abimael." 

The  choice  of  this  name  for  the  father  of  the  heroine  is,  of  course, 
wholly  arbitrary,  and  the  word  means,  in  a  general  way,  a  godly  father. 

The  Sabbath-school  graduate  has  been  taught,  in  an  offhand  way, 
that  when  the  act  of  secession  took  place,  then  Northern  Israel  became 
idolatrous  and  hopelessly  bad;  a  view  of  the  case  colored  by  the  priestly 
author  of  the  books  of  the  "Chronicles." 

While  the  record  is  true  of  the  state  establishment  of  a  forbidden 
mode  of  worshipping  Jehovah,  through  a  mistaken  policy  discussed  else- 
where in  these  notes,  it  is  also  true  that  the  activity  of  the  voluntary 
ministers  of  religion  resulted  in  better  moral  conditions  among  the  com- 
mon people  than  obtained  in  the  southern  kingdom,  where  piety  and 
morals  rose  and  fell  with  the  will  and  disposition  of  the  king. 

Ezekiel  says  plainly  that  morals  in  Israel  were  not  half  as  bad  as  they 
were  in  Judah,  speaking  of  the  two  kingdoms  under  the  figure  of  two 
sisters  (Ezekiel  xxiii:ll  and  xvi:51);  "Neither  hath  Samaria  com- 
mitted half  of  thy  sins." 

This  note  is  in  defense  of  the  invention  of  a  godly  man  as  independent 
as  he  is  intelligent,  an  inflexible  and  brave  "David  Deans." 

There  are  no  parallels  in  the  sketches  of  northern  affairs  to  the  great 
woman  of  Shunam,  generous  and  thoughtful  for  the  comforts  of  the 
prophet;  to  the  dutiful  and  wise  little  maid  of  Israel  in  the  household 
of  Naaman,  the  leprous  Syrian ;  no  man  of  Shalisha  appears  in  Judah 
with  his  timely  offering  to  supply  the  needy  servants  of  God.  Take  away 
Amos,  and  the  country  districts  of  Judah  are  without  a  prophet.  Truly 
there  are  no  parallels  in  the  records  of  Judah.  Where  is  there  one,  out- 
side the  sphere  of  prophetic  enthusiasm,  equal  to  the  stalwart  martyr, 

22 


Naboth?  Then  take  the  hundred  faithful  prophets  sheltered  by  Obadiah, 
and  the  seven  thousand  who  did  not  conform,  as  the  populace  of  Judah 
must  have  done  when  an  idolatrous  king  succeeded  to  the  throne,  but 
resolutely  refused  even  the  slightest  act  of  courtesy  towards  the  image 
of  Baal. 

The  promise  had  to  be  fulfilled  through  the  expiatory  offerings  in 
Judah,  but  the  Scriptures  are  plain  in  saying  the  election  of  that  remnant 
is  wholly  of  grace,  and  not  through  deservings. 

The  pivotal  action  of  the  drama  turns  on  this  last  introduced  char- 
acter who  knew  the  Torah  and  practiced  its  precepts,  teaching  in  word 
and  example  until  wonderful  strength  of  character  is  developed  in  his 
daughter. 

(6)  " Abishag." 

A  surmise  has  been  expressed  by  eminent  English  and  German 
scholars  that  the  heroine  of  "Canticles"  was  none  other  than  the  beau- 
tiful young  nurse  of  the  aged  and  infirm  King  David,  to  whom  she  was 
neither  wife  nor  concubine.     (See  I  Kings  i:4.) 

After  the  death  of  David  and  accession  of  Solomon,  and  as  a  sequel 
to  the  attempt  of  Adonijah  to  seize  the  throne  to  the  exclusion  of  Solo- 
mon, we  have  the  awful  visitation  of  the  wrath  of  the  king  on  the 
aspirant  to  the  hand  of  his  father's  nurse.  In  this  request  Adonijah  was 
wholly  innocent  of  a  conspiracy,  although  commentators,  both  Jewish 
and  Christian,  are  unanimous  in  perceiving  treason  that  is  parallel  to 
the  request  of  Abner  for  the  concubine  of  the  deceased  Saul,  or  of  the 
incestuous  Absalom  in  his  appropriation  of  the  harem  of  David,  on  the 
occasion  of  the  rebellion  of  his  beautiful  but  bad  son.  Abishag  was  not  a 
member  of  the  king's  establishment,  and  so  the  doctrine,  that  to  assume 
the  late  king's  harem  was  proof  of  rebellion  against  the  new  king,  is 
without  foundation.  Besides,  it  is  only  on  the  stage  that  conspirators 
publish  their  purposes. 

The  court  favorite  had  prevailed  on  the  mother  of  Solomon  to  prefer 
his  suit,  which  she  undertook  with  apparent  unconcern  for  the  conse- 
quences. A  harmless  and  handsome  young  man  falls  in  love  with  a 
beautiful  woman,  who,  being  attached  to  the  household,  is  in  the  gift  of 
the  king.  Women  are  not  averse  to  such  an  office  as  that  pressed  on 
Bathsheba.     But  consider,  her  well.     The  granddaughter  of  Ahithophel, 

23 


that  wonderfully  wise  counsellor  of  David;  she  was  the  treasure-house 
of  the  folklore  displayed  afterwards  by  her  son  in  his  once  popular 
"Proverbs."  Solomon  goes  farther  and  credits  his  love  of  wisdom  to  her 
in  the  same  book.  In  politics,  it  is  not  wholly  improbable  that  she 
schemed  as  much  as  David  was  susceptible,  at  her  first  appearance ;  she 
obtained  from  David  the  promise  that  her  highly  trained  son  should  be 
his  successor;  a  contrast  to  the  dilettante  Adonijah,  the  real  heir,  and 
to  Absalom,  the  rebel,  who  attempted  the  throne  and  who  was  partially 
and  temporarily  successful. 

Nathan,  the  prophet,  was  her  ally  and  counsellor,  and  depended  on  her 
astuteness  at  the  critical  time  when  the  opera  bouffe  assumption  of  Adoni- 
jah was  in  process  of  celebration.  That  such  a  coward  could  be  a  con- 
spirator and  that  such  a  woman,  mother  and  queen,  would  further  such 
an  undertaking  as  the  dethronement  of  her  son,  are  considerations  un- 
worthy of  the  time  they  occupy.  Solomon  ordered  the  execution  of 
Adonijah  on  the  plea  of  the  latter's  disloyalty.  This  blot  on  the  early 
administration  of  the  wisest  of  kings  indicates  that  the  monarch  was 
himself  the  victim  of  the  master  passion  described  by  himself  (Proverbs 
vi:34;  xxvii:4):     Solomon  was  jealous. 

The  autocrat  was  in  love  with  Abishag,  and,  believing  that  her  prefer- 
ence was  for  his  half-brother,  he  takes  the  short  method  of  oriental 
despots,  and,  justifying  himself  by  the  hollow  pretense  which,  as  has 
been  said,  continues  to  deceive  men  that  ought  to  know  better,  he  judicially 
murders  Adonijah. 

Neither  the  victim  nor  the  assassin  seems  to  have  been  the  choice  of 
Abishag,  and  she  returns  to  her  native  Issachar  and  to  the  object  of  her 
early  affections.  Solomon  follows  her  shortly  afterwards,  as  the  number 
of  his  harem  (120)  indicates,  the  complete  number  being  1,000,  and  the 
"Song  of  Songs"  tells  the  rest  of  the  love  story. 

(7)  "First  Day." 

Wettzstein,  who  was  consul  at  Damascus,  representing  Prussia  about 
the  middle  of  the  last  century,  tells  of  his  having  been  present  at  a  wed- 
ding feast  in  one  of  the  rural  districts  of  Syria,  the  feast  lasting  a  week. 

A  kind  of  drama,  in  which  a  king  and  queen  with  their  attendants 
take  parts,  was  performed,  the  dialogues  celebrating  the  triumph  of 
virtuous  love. 

24 


The  threshing-floor  was  used  as  an  audience  space,  while  another  and 
raised  part  was  used  by  the  actors,  prompted  by  the  communal  priest, 
who  was  credited  by  the  visitor  as  having  shrewdly  adapted  the  poetic 
drama  to  the  situation,  in  order  to  forestall  amusements  and  conversation 
of  a  baser  character. 


(s)  "It  more  than  wine  my  tongue  inspires." 

Antecedent  to  the  present  perfunctory  administration  of  the  Eucharist 
in  Presbyterian  congregations,  the  services  began  some  days  previous  to 
the  celebration,  with  a  day  of  fasting,  humiliation  and  confession  of  con- 
gregational shortcomings  ;  another  day  the  congregation  were  in  gen- 
eral reminded  of  the  principles  contended  for  to  the  extremes  of  torture 
and  even  judicial  murder,  and  then  the  congregation  one  by  one  passed 
under  the  scrutiny  of  the  Church  Session,  the  acceptable  being  handed  a 
"token"  of  admission.  But  on  the  forenoon  of  the  Communion  the  ut- 
most effort  was  put  forth  to  arouse  the  spirituality  of  the  membership 
in  an  "action  sermon,"  usually  a  chef-d'oeuvre  of  doctrinal  exposition 
and  incitement  to  Christian  enthusiasm.  Then  followed  the  solemn 
appeal  to  the  conscience  of  the  intending  communicant  to  sit  in  judg- 
ment on  himself  and  so  spare  himself,  if  facts  unknown  to  the  approving 
Session  would  make  it  damnatory  for  him  to  come  to  the  long  and  linen- 
decked  table  to  which  the  communicants  were  invited.  The  table  being 
furnished  with  guests,  the  elements  were  uncovered  and  consecrated,  the 
words  indicating  less  than  the  Lutheran  but  much  more  than  the  Puritan 
doctrine  regarding  the  "real  presence."  But  the  addresses  before  and 
during  participation,  and  continuing  for  a  little  space  after,  would  form 
an  anthology  excelling  all  that  one  has  ever  listened  to  in  that  spiritual 
exaltation  corresponding  to  the  exhilaration  of  wine.  Some  of  those 
sacramental  addresses  have  been  preserved,  notably  those  by  Williston 
of  Dundee,  one  peculiarity  in  most  all  of  them  and  their  kind  being 
the  free  use  made  of  the  "Song  of  Songs,"  fragments  being  made  wholly 
subservient  to  the  fancy  of  the  preacher,  no  established  system  of 
symbolism  obtaining.  In  fact,  the  Church  of  the  New  Jerusalem  alone 
has  a  fixed  basis  of  application  of  the  figures  of  speech  used  throughout 
the  book. 


25 


(9)  "Kedar's  goafs-hair  tents." 

The  nomads  whose  territory  lay  indefinitely  south  and  east  of  Pales- 
tine;  any  Arab  tribe  of  primitive  times. 

(10)  "That  by  Engcdi's  springs  entwine." 

How  would  Engedi,  among  the  mountains  of  Judah,  suggest  itself 
to  this  daughter  of  the  North  and  an  habitue  of  the  Plain  of  Sharon? 
This  most  fertile  glen,  with  its  luxuriant  tropical  vegetation,  was  one 
of  the  haunts  of  David  during  his  adventurous  youth.  Did  David 
speak  of  it  in  his  glowing  poetical  language  reminiscently,  so  as  to  make 
Abishag  so  appreciative  of  it  that  she  associates  the  place  and  its  scenes 
with  the  rich  memories  of  her  lover? 

(11)  "He  brought  me  where  the  choicest  wines."     (He  brought  me  into 

his  banqueting  house.) 
In  another  note  it  has  been  stated  that  the  book  had  become  scandal- 
ous from  its  desecration.  One  is  impressed  with  the  saying  (Ecclesiastes 
i:9),  "The  thing  that  hath  been  shall  be."  The  agreement  of  all  rever- 
ential commentators  is,  that  the  fiftieth  year  of  the  independence  of  the 
North  is  the  date  of  "Canticles,"  which  brings  us  to  the  wine  feast  of 
King  Elah,  with  its  fatal  termination.  A  wandering  minstrel,  with  a 
hairy  garb  and  carrying  the  harp  such  as  revived  the  spirit  of  Elisha 
afterwards,  and  was  powerful  in  the  hands  of  David,  both  in  his  dealing 
with  the  gloomy  Saul  and  in  the  composition  of  the  only  devotional 
songs  worthy  to  be  classed  as  such,  may  have  intruded  —  a  welcome 
contributor  to  the  festive  monarch's  convivial  joy  —  and  to  him  may 
have  been  recited  and  sung  the  only  love  story  in  Scripture  afterwards. 

(12)  "'Away  with  zvine,'  I,  fainting,  cried." 

Those  critics  who  are  unable  to  perceive  remote  antiquity  in  any 
portion  of  the  literature  of  Israel,  have  not- been  inconsistent  with  them- 
selves when  "Canticles"  was  their  subject.  The  extremists  of  this 
school  affect  to  see  the  influence  of  the  Greek  drama  on  the  book,  urging 
that  the  Hebrews  took  no  pleasure  in  the  contemplation  of  the  beauties 
of  the  landscape,  and  were  insensible  to  the  tender  passion  antecedent 
to  marriage. 

26 


For  converse  proof  of  this  let  us  examine  that  fragment  of  "Sappho" 
which  Joseph  Addison,  England's  most  eminent  literateur  in  the  eight- 
eenth century,  has  rendered  into  verse: 

Blest  as  th'  immortal  gods  is  he, 
The  youth  that  fondly  sits  by  thee, 
And  sees  and  hears  thee  all  the  while, 
Softly  speak  and  sweetly  smile. 

'Twas  this  deprived  my  soul  of  rest, 
And  raised  such  tumults  in  my  breast ; 
For  while  I  gazed,  in  transports  tost, 
My  breath  was  gone,  my  voice  was  lost. 

My  bosom  glowed,  the  subtle  flame 
Ran  quick  through  all  my  vital  frame ; 
O'er  my  dim  eyes  a  darkness  hung, 
My  ears  with  hollow  murmurs  rung. 

In  dewy  damps  my  limbs  were  chilled, 
My  blood  with  gentle  horrors  thrilled, 
My  feeble  pulse  forgot  to  play, 
I  fainted,  sunk,  and  died  away. 

Taking  the  whole  episode  narrated  by  the  heroine  of  "Canticles,"  one 
wishes  that  Addison  had  done  as  much  for  it  as  he  has  done  for  the 
fragment  given  above.  The  candid  reader  would  have  decided  that  the 
Bible  scene  excels  the  Greek  in  being  free  from  artificial  and  fanciful 
expressions,  while  in  spirit  it  is  equally  fervid,  yet  simple  and  natural. 

In  point  of  fact,  the  Bible  poem  gives  evidence  of  originality,  and, 
in  the  conflict  of  claims,  evidence  would  be  on  the  side  of  "Canticles" 
as  being  the  model  and  "Sappho"  the  imitator. 

The  critics  take  for  granted  that  poetry  and  art  were  indigenous 
to  picturesque  Greece,  apparently  ignoring  the  fact  that  the  earliest 
poem  of  Greece  is  its  greatest,  the  luxuriant  efflorescence  of  a  vigorous 
plant  in  a  new  soil. 

Since  Greek  literature  sprung  up  when  Hebrew  literature  had  ma- 
tured, who  can  tell  the  story  of  the  possibility  of  the  Phoenician  mer- 
chants, who  had,  before  the  age  of  Homer,  doubled  Cape  of  Good  Hope 

27 


and  traversed  all  Southern  Europe,  even  crossing  the  English  Channel. 
On  one  occasion  a  ship  of  those  merchant  people  carried  the  first  foreign 
missionary  on  a  most  adventurous  trip  on  the  Levant,  and  that  mis- 
sionary, too,  from  the  North,  where  we  have  been  led  to  believe  no  good 
thing  dwelt ;  yet  Jonah  was  from  the  very  scenes  of  "Canticles."  The 
literature  of  Israel  —  the  richest,  purest,  highest  and  most  natural  — 
was  doubtless  spread  far  and  wide  through  the  medium  of  those  com- 
mercial adventures.  The  love  of  nature  they  could  carry  with  them, 
and  the  habit  of  adorning  language  with  poetic  imagery  they  could  con- 
vey, but  they  never  carried  but  one  who  could  instruct  in  the  knowledge 
of  God,  as  one,  immaculate  and  indivisible.  Phoenicia  had  no  such  holy 
mission,  and  Israel's  prophet  undertook  it  unwillingly,  so  Greece  might 
receive  her  taste  from  Israel,  though  her  monism  would  be  unwelcome. 

(13)  "Cool  citron." 

The  Hebrew  word,  tapuach,  may  mean  any  fruit  of  the  character  of 
the  apple  —  pears,  plums,  peaches,  apples,  apricots,  oranges,  lemons  or 
citrons.  The  apple  of  Palestine  is  poor  in  quality,  and  would  hardly 
serve  the  purpose  of  the  speaker  in  this  instance. 

The  "Targum"  refers  to  the  citron  as  cooling  and  refreshing,  while 
in  I  Samuel  xxx :  12,  a  cluster  of  raisins  is  given  to  the  faint  Egyptian 
fugitive  to  relieve  his  exhaustion. 


28 


Second  Day 

Scene —  The  dwelling  of  the  mother  of  Abishag. 

The  heroine  tells  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem  of  her  experiences 
after  leaving  them  the  night  before,  describing  the  early  morning  of 
this  day  and  the  approach  of  the  betrothed  to  her  mother's  house,  as  if 
she  were  but  now  seeing  and  hearing  him. 

She  describes  his  bashful  and  affectionate  movements,  after  she  has 
portrayed  in  the  most  animated  language  his  agility  and  rapidity  in 
approaching  the  town.  Being  assured  of  a  cordial  reception,  he  breaks 
forth  into  song,  alluring  her  to  flight,  in  a  most  poetic  picture  of  the 
free  and  flourishing  fields  in  the  springtime.  However,  he  is  made 
aware  of  the  impracticableness  of  his  plans  and  concludes  his  admirable 
song  by  a  determination  to  return  to  his  vocation  until  the  time  shall 
be  more  propitious. 

She  recites  her  reply  to  him,  urging  him  to  return  that  same  even- 
ing, to  which,  in  the  light  of  the  next  day's  narrative,  he  presumably 
agrees ;  and  the  second  day,  or  division  of  the  drama,  closes  with  a 
repetition  of  her  appeal  to  the  good  nature  of  the  "Daughters." 

Abishag  (to  mother)  — 

My  loved  one's  voice  I  hear, 
So  resonant  and  clear. 
Behold  he  breasts  the  mountain  ridge ; 
Look  how  his  steps  the  hills  abridge, 
Like  wild  gazelle  from  ledge  to  ledge, 
He  leapeth  void  of  fear. 

He  stands  behind  our  wall 
And  fain  my  name  would  call, 
But  eager,  bashful,  hopes  to  see 
Me  through  the  casement  casually ; 
Now  through  the  lattice  glanceth  he, 
How  rich  his  accents  fall. 

29 


My  loved  one  me  invites, 
To  follow  him  incites ; 
"Oh !   rise  my  fair  one,  come  my  love. 
Through  meadows  and  by  woods  we'll  rove, 
The  sunshine  shall  to  pleasure  move ;" 
A  song  to  me  recites. ' 

(Enter  Dodah,  singing  a  song  of  springtime.) 
DODAH  — 

The  winter's  past,  the  rain  has  ceased, 
The  song  birds  chaunt  their  wooing, 

Sweet  smiling  flowers  the  spring's  released, 
And  turtle  doves  are  cooing. 

Green  figs  are  ripening  on  the  tree,(14) 

The  vines  the  air  perfuming ; 
Arise  my  love  and  come  with  me, 

My  bride  in  beauty  blooming. 

My  rock  dove,  spread  thy  glittering  wings, 
And  fly  the  haunts  of  strangers ; 

The  lofty  state  but  envy  brings, 
And  rank  is  full  of  dangers. 

Oh !  let  me  see  thy  countenance, 
Thy  voice,  Oh !   let  me  hear  it ; 

Thine  eyes  would  gladden  with  a  glance 
My  heart,  thy  words  would  cheer  it. 

Adieu !    I  hasten  to  protect 

Our  vines,  the  foxes  foiling; 
Our  tender  grapes  must  not  neglect 

To  little  foxes'  spoiling. 

30 


Abishag  (to  Dodah)  — 

Beloved  !     Beloved  !     My  heart's  wholly  thine  ; 

Where  flocks  'mid  the  lilies  thou'rt  feeding, 
Them,  into  safe  keeping,  I  pray  thee,  resign, 

And  back  to  thy  darling  be  speeding. 

When  breathes  from  the  mountain  the  breeze  of  the  eve, 

The  summer  day's  heat  is  abating; 
Returning,  thy  bride  to  thy  bosom  receive, 

Where  patiently  thee  I'm  awaiting. 

Oh  !  turn  thee  to  me-ward,  beloved,  return, 
Come  back  o'er  the  mountains  of  Bether ;  (15) 

Like  th'  agile  gazelles  which  all  obstacles  spurn, 
O'er  the  mountain  of  spices  come  hither. 

(End  of  Second  Day.) 


Notes  on  Second  Day 

(14)  "Green  figs  are  ripening  on  the  tree." 

Lest  there  should  appear  some  incongruity  in  this  celebration  of 
springtime,  the  reader  is  reminded  that  the  word  pag  means  the  figs 
which  attain  full  size  too  late  for  ripening  the  same  year,  but  about  the 
season  of  the  "Passover"  would  afford  a  grateful  refreshment  to  the 
passing  traveler.  This  accounts  for  the  disappointment  of  Jesus  on  His 
way  from  Bethany.  The  time  of  figs  had  not  yet  come,  but  the  wayside 
pag  should  have  been  ripe  and  ready  for  such  a  distinguished  partaker 
of  its  fruit. 

(15)  "The  Spice  Hills  —  Bether,  Besamin." 

The  interchange  of  rendering  is  based  on  the  etymology  of  mala- 
bathron,  in  which  the  termination  is  made  interchangeable  with  "Bether" 
—  separation.  As  it  is  impossible  at  the  present  day  to  locate  Bether, 
the  play  on  words  is  of  no  consequence  to  the  reader. 

31 


Third  Day 

Scene  —  The  royal  residence  in  Tirzah. 

Abishag  opens  with  an  address  to  the  "Daughters,"  relating  her 
experiences  of  the  intervening  night,  in  which  the  delay  of  Dodah  in 
keeping  his  appointment  has  alarmed  her;  so,  leaving  her  mother's 
dwelling,  though  after  nightfall,  she  proceeds  to  search  for  him,  and 
finds  him  without  much  effort. 

In  the  language  of  the  preceding  days,  she  again  begs  the  forbear- 
ance of  her  audience,  but  is  interrupted  by  the  exclamation  of  one  or 
more  of  the  daughters  in  the  form  of  a  question,  as  a  cloud  of  dust 
indicates  the  approach  of  a  cavalcade  or  caravan.  The  answer,  given 
by  some  man  well  acquainted  with  the  persons  and  purpose  of  this 
demonstration,  fixes  assuredly  the  personality  of  Ahishar,  the  eunuch  in 
charge,  any  other  character  being  an  impossibility. 

The  heroine,  after  this  scenic  approach  of  Solomon,  evidently  staged 
with  the  purpose  of  impressing  her,  is  again  chosen  to  wait  on  him. 
Solomon  exceeds  his  former  sensuous  admiration,  affection  being  un- 
perceivable  in  his  address  to  her.  She  makes  no  reply,  and  the  cha- 
grined monarch,  tired  from  the  morning's  state  function  of  royal 
progress,  intimates  his  intention  to  retire  to  a  suburban  retreat. 

An  episode  tells  of  her  return  to  her  mother's  dwelling  where  she 
again  meets  Dodah,  whose  declaration  of  admiration  and  affection  for 
her  is  in  such  striking  contrast  to  the  language  of  Solomon  that  the 
fact  of  there  being  two  aspirants  for  the  hand  of  Abishag  is  unques- 
tionable. 

Warning  the  heroine  of  the  dangers  of  her  situation,  Dodah  urges 
flight  at  the  earliest  opportunity,  probably  immediate;  but  the  subse- 
quent narrative  to  the  daughters  indicates  his  withdrawal  without  her. 

Abishag  (to  Daughters  of  Jerusalem)  — 

By  night,  upon  my  couch,  my  fancy  strove 

And  thought  to  find  my  love,  but  found  him  not ; 

Then  Love  about  the  city  bade  me  rove, 

So  through  the  streets  and  broadways  him  I  sought. 

32 


"I'll  rise  and  find  my  love,"  I  had  replied, 
"I'll  find  him  whom  my  inmost  soul  adores;" 
I  sought  him,  but  I  was  success  denied ; 

I  found  him  not  my  saddened  heart  deplores. 

The  watchmen,  following  their  nightly  round, 

I  questioned  :     "Have  ye  seen  my  soul's  true  love  ?" 

Me,  wandering,  distressed,  indeed  they  found, 
But  naught  replied,  nor  once  to  help  me  strove. 

'Twas  but  a  little  I  had  from  them  gone, 

When  lo !  my  ravished  heart  became  aware 

My  eyes  with  rapture  once  more  looked  upon 
The  form  of  him  beloved  beyond  compare. 

I  held  him  fast,  nor  would  not  let  him  go 
Until  my  mother's  house  I  brought  him  to, 

Where  she,  who  purest  nuptial  love  did  know, 
Might,  sympathetic,  my  distresses  view. 

Then,  Daughters  of  Jerusalem, 

Ye  know  the  timid,  fleet  gazelles  ; 
True  love  is  near  akin  to  them, 

Its  movements  fraud  nor  force  compels. 

Then  I  adjure  you,  meddle  not, 

From  Love's  sweet  dream  I'd  not  awake  ; 

My  love  can  not  be  forced  or  bought, 
It's  kept  for  him  I'll  ne'er  forsake. 

(Enter  Ahishar.) 
33 


(Solomon,  returning  in  state,  is  descried  by  Daughters,  who, 
addressing  Ahishar,  enquire — ) 

Daughters  — 

What  caravan  excites  our  eyes, 

Who  stirs  the  dust  upon  the  waste, 

Like  smoke  clouds  mounting  to  the  skies, 
Who  comes  thus  in  impetuous  haste  ? 

Already  borne  upon  the  breeze, 

Frankincense  loads  the  luscious  air, 

Spices  and  myrrh  the  senses  please 

With  merchants'  perfumes  rich  and  rare. 


Ahishar  (in  reply)  — 

Even  Solomon,  our  king,  draws  near, 
His  royal  litter  greets  the  sight, 

Three  score  around  it,  armed,  appear. 
All  sons  of  Israel,  men  of  might. 

These,  Israel's  champions,  trained  to  war, 
With  sword  and  buckler  ready  dight 

They  watch,  intrusion  to  debar, 
Prevent  surprises  in  the  night. 

This  palanquin  King  Solomon, (16) 

For  royal  progress,  forth  hath  brought ; 

Its  wood  was  hewn  in  Lebanon, 
Its  pillars,  silver  richly  wrought. 
34 


Its  rests  consist  of  plates  of  gold, 
Its  cushions,  purple  silk  o'erspread, 

Jerus'lem's  daughters'  loves  are  told 
In  many  a  panel,  pearl  inlaid. 

Go  forth !  ye  Zion's  daughters,  see 
Your  king,  he  wears  that  regal  crown 

His  mother  gave,  when,  joyfully,  he 
The  power  of  nuptial  love  did  own. 

(Enter  Solomon.) 

Solomon  {addressing  Abishag)  — 

Behold !   thou'rt  fair,  my  friend,  thou'rt  fair, 
Thine  eyes,  like  doves'  behind  thy  locks  ; 

Like  goats',  thy  wealth  of  raven  hair, 
From  Gilead  of  the  royal  flocks. 

Thy  teeth,  like  ewes,  new  washed  and  shorn, 

In  pairs  most  regular,  complete 
Thy  lips,  like  scarlet  lace,  adorn 

Thy  comely  mouth  in  speech  right  sweet. 

Like  pomegranates  among  the  leaves, 
Thy  locks  thy  temples  half  conceal ; 

Thy  neck  supremest  fame  achieves, 

Where  grace  and  strength  themselves  reveal. 

Like  David's  towers,  embattled  where 
A  thousand  champions  shields  display, 

Thy  neck  might  richer  trophies  wear 
Of  conquests  higher  far  than  they. 

35 


Like  young  gazelles,  thy  breasts,  a  pair, 
Their  timid  graceful  forms  repeat, 

Or,  feeding  'mong  the  lilies  there. 
Retiring,  find  a  safe  retreat. 

(Solomon's  address  failing  of  effect,  he  intimates  his  inten- 
tion to  retire  to  his  lodge  outside  the  city.) 

Cool,  comes  the  evening  breeze, 

Lulling  to  soft  repose, 
Odors  the  senses  please, 

Myrrh  the  near  hills  disclose. 

Calm  night  spreads  o'er  the  hill, 

Savors  frankincense  yields; 
There  will  I  rest  until 

Morning  the  orient  gilds. 

(Exit  Solomon.) 

Scene — The  mother's  house;   evening. 

(Enter  Dodah,  the  shepherd.) 

Dodah  (to  Abishag)  — 

Thou'rt  fair  o'er  all,  my  love,  thou'rt  fair, 
Immaculate,  no  blemish  there. 
Oh  !  stay  with  me  from  Lebanon, 
My  bride,  from  dangerous  Lebanon ; 
Adventure  not  Amana's  height, 
Nor  Hermon's  steep  and  snowy  site; 
The  Eastern  Senir's  cliffs  beware, 
The  lion  has  his  dwelling  there, 

36 


The  mountain  leopard  there  is  found, 
Beasts  strong  and  merciless  abound  ; 
Yet,  better  were  thy  death  with  them 
Than  life  which  faith  and  love  condemn. 
But  courage  let  my  heart  regain, 
My  kindred  bride,  thou'lt  mine  remain ; 
My  heart  was  thine,  when  on  me  shone 
One  glance,  I  then  was  all  thine  own. 
Thy  neck,  which  chains  of  gold  sustained, 
As  with  one  link,  my  heart  enchained. 
My  kindred  bride,  thou'rt  fair,  how  fair ! 
Thy  love  surpasses  vintage  rare, 
And  varied  spices  fail  to  please, 
When  thy  perfumes  my  senses  seize. 
Thy  lips  are  honeycombs  in  song, 
Honey  and  milk  are  'neath  thy  tongue, 
Sweet  flowers,  of  Lebanon  the  boast, 
Are  in  thy  fragrant  presence  lost. 
Thy  virtues,  barred  from  royal  wile, 
Like  garden  walled  and  watched  the  while, 
Like  fountain  in  the  palace  court, 
Enclosed  from  all  the  vulgar  sort. 
Like  garden  plants,  thy  graces  grow ; 
Like  pomegranates,  ripe  fruits  bestow ; 
Spikenard  and  henna,  saffron  flowers, 
Frankincense  whose  perfume  o'erpowers. 
With  calamus  and  cinnamon, 
And  chief  of  spices  every  one, 
So  myrrh  and  aloes,  which  combine 
Salubrious  virtues,  all  are  thine. 
37 


A  fountain,  many  gardens,  thou 
Refresh  shalt  with  thy  heart's  overflow ; 
Thy  virtues,  inward  grace  propels, 
Like  Lebanon's  perennial  wells. 

(The  hour  is  late.     Dodah  hastily  exit,  and  Abishag  sing- 
ing in  continuation  of  his  eulogy.) 

Abishag  — 

Awake,  north  wind  !     Awake ! 

Thou  south  wind,  softly  blow, 
Breathe  on  my  garden,  make 
Its  spices  forth  to  flow. 
Its  fruits  right  rare, 
Profuse  and  fair, 
Invite  thee  there, 
Their  sweetness  to  bestow. 

(Retires  and  dreams  that  Dodah  is  calling  her.) 

(End  of  Third  Day.) 


Note  on  Third  Day 

(16)  ''This  palanquin  King  Solomon." 

The  reader  may  have  noted  the  number  of  Solomon's  bodyguard, 
and  have  failed  to  be  impressed  with  a  sense  of  grandeur.  Can  it  be 
that  this  is  cynicism,  where  the  writer,  by  a  clever  movement,  exposes 
the  parsimony  of  Solomon,  following  it  up  in  the  last  chapter  by  an 
exhibition  of  mean,  oppressive  penuriousness  as  an  offset  to  the  glowing 
accounts  of  his  magnificence  and  lavish  expenditures  given  in  Chronicles? 

38 


Fourth  Day 

Scene  —  The  royal  residence  at  Tirzah. 

The  heroine  tells  of  a  sweet,  erotic  dream,  which  she  says  was 
broken  in  upon  by  the  return  of  Dodah,  seeking  readmission,  as  prob- 
ably the  city  gates  had  been  shut  for  the  night.  She  affects  reluctance, 
pleading  that  she  has  retired  and  reminding  him  of  the  unreasonableness 
of  his  request. 

However,  pity  overcomes  her  unwillingness,  and,  relenting,  she 
rises  to  admit  him.  In  true  oriental  style,  she  ascribes  her  nervous  in- 
capacity for  complying  with  his  request  to  the  overpowering  influences 
of  the  odors  of  rich  perfumes,  augmented  by  a  sense  of  his  personal 
attractiveness. 

Recovering  herself,  she  opens,  only  to  find  that  he  has  departed,  and  at 
once  she  sets  out  to  find  him.  She  describes  her  treatment  by  the  watch- 
men of  the  city,  and  implores  the  sympathy  and  assistance  of  her  audience. 

In  somewhat  disdainful  terms,  they  want  to  know  the  reason  for 
this  romantic  attachment,  and  enquire  regarding  his  personal  appear- 
ance and  worth. 

They  receive,  in  reply,  the  much  admired  eulogy,  the  effect  of  which 
is  to  win  them  over,  and  they  declare  their  willingness  to  assist  her  in 
finding  him,  meanwhile  proposing  that  she  furnish  some  conjecture  as 
to  his  whereabouts.  This  is  answered  by  another  outburst  of  affectionate 
attachment ;    then  the  king  enters  to  renew  the  prosecution  of  his  suit. 

Solomon  now  reaches  a  higher  plane  in  his  declarations,  after  he  has 
exhausted  his  stereotyped  comparisons,  and  proposes  offering  her  un- 
divided and  unlimited  authority,  as  Queen  of  Israel.  There  is  no  reply 
recorded. 

(Abishag  narrates  her  dream  to  Daughters.) 

Abishag  — 
"Bride  of  my  kindred,  lo,  I'm  here, 
Here  in  our  garden,  spouse  most  dear, 
Gathered  my  myrrh  with  balsams  sweet. 
Honey  with  honeycomb  we'll  eat ; 

39 


Drink  with  our  milk,  our  choicest  wine ; 
Eat,  O,  our  friends,  our  joys  combine, 
Drink !  yea,  dear  friends,  abundantly ; 
O,  my  beloved,  drink  with  me." 

I  slept,  but  this  delightful  dream, 

In  thoughts  delicious,  waked  my  heart, 

And  love,  the  ever  welcome  theme, 
Did  joy  unspeakable  impart. 

'Twas  then  that  tapping  at  my  door 
Me  woke,  and  then  I  heard  him  speak : 

"My  kindred  bride,  than  dove  more  pure, 
Behold,  I  needful  shelter  seek. 

"My  locks  are  wet  with  drops  of  night, 
Nocturnal  dew  my  body  chills ; 
Have  pity,  heed  my  doleful  plight, 
And  save  me  from  impending  ills." 

"I  have  put  off  my  coat,"  I  said, 
"How  should  I  put  it  on  again," 

"I've  washed  my  feet,"  I  further  pled, 
"Why  them  defile?"  I  made  complain. 

My  well  belov'd  the  door  then  tried, 
My  heart  was  moved  with  pity  then, 

I  rose,  the  door  to  open  wide, 

Mine  own  betrothed  to  entertain. 

But,  sweets  surprising  everywhere. 

My  nerveless  hand  made  helpless  prey, 

My  hands,  suffused  with  oil  of  myrrh, 
And  fingers  on  the  bolt  delay. 

40 


I  opened  then,  but  all  too  late, 

My  loved  one,  grieved,  had  turned  away ; 

My  soul  had  caused  me  hesitate, 
Had  failed  me  when  I  should  obey. 

I  sought  him,  but  I  found  him  not ; 

I  called  his  name,  with  no  avail ; 
The  watch  me  found,  and  sore  me  smote, 

The  keepers  reft  away  my  veil. 

Oh!   Salem's  daughters,  I  adjure 

You,  tell  him,  if  my  love  you  find, 
I'm  sick  beyond  all  earthly  cure, 

Despair  with  love  of  him  combined. 

Daughters  (in  response)  — 

What's  thy  beloved  more  than  those 

That  grace  this  city,  fairest  one, 
What  virtues  rare  in  him  repose, 

That  us  such  charge  thou  layest  upon  ? 

Abishag  (in  reply)  — 

White  and  ruddy's  the  complexion  of  my  love, 

And  his  temples  hold  what's  richer  far  than  gold ; 
Then  his  ample  locks  my  admiration  move, 

Black  as  raven's  are  his  ringlets  to  behold. 

His  eyes,  as  washed  with  milk,  are  clear  and  bright, 
As  the  pigeon's  varied  plumage,  is  their  sheen. 

As  the  brimming  streams,  the  turtle  doves  invite, 
So,  his  looks  to  me  refreshment  still  have  been. 
41 


Like  sweet  balsam  is  his  healthful,  honest  smile, 

Like  to  banks  of  sweetest  herbs,  his  bearded  cheeks ; 

Then  most  pure  and  aromatic  all  the  while, 
Like  the  lilies,  are  his  lips,  as  truth  he  speaks. 

As  a  cylinder  of  gold's  his  arm  and  hand, 
Which  the  topaz,  for  a  setting,  might  desire ; 

Like  carved  ivory  his  body's  sinews  stand, 
To  be  worthily  encrusted  with  sapphire. 

Like  the  marble  work  of  master  of  his  art, 
On  plintha  of  gold  his  limbs  were  fitly  seen ; 

Like  Libanus  in  his  manly  noble  port, 
As  the  cedar  excellent  and  ever  green. 

His  speech  with  sweetest  sentiment  is  stored, 
Of  ten  thousand,  bears  the  banner  worthily, 

Yea,  he's  altogether  lovely,  my  dear  lord, 
O,  ye  Daughters  of  Jerusalem,  is  he. 

Daughters  (in  reply)  — 

O,  fairest  thou  of  womankind, 

Where's  thy  beloved  gone  ? 
With  thee  we'll  seek,  perchance  may  find 
Thy  loved,  thy  absent  one. 

Abishag  — 

My  loved  one  to  his  garden  went, 

To  scan  each  spicy  bed ; 
Him  ripest  fruits  their  sweetness  lent, 

While  chaplets  decked  his  head. 

42 


My  loved  one's  mine,  I'm  his  indeed, 

In  mutual  trust  unmoved; 
His  flocks  in  Sharon's  pastures  feed, 

'Mong  lilies  where  we  roved. 

(Exit  Daughters.) 

(Enter  Solomon.) 

Solomon  — 

Oh!    my  friend,  supremely  fair, 
Tirzah  I'd  with  thee  compare ; 
As  Jerus'lem,  glorious  queen, (17) 
So  thy  countenance  is  seen. 
Terrible  to  me  alway, 
As  an  army  in  array, 
Are  thine  eyes,  turn  them  aside, 
Them  my  soul  dare  not  abide. 
Now,  again,  I  say,  thy  hair 
May  with  Gilead's  goats'  compare. 
Like  a  flock  of  well-washed  sheep, 
So  thy  teeth  their  whiteness  keep, 
Perfect,  shapely,  all  in  pairs, 
Not  one  space  their  ranks  impairs. 
Neath  thy  locks,  but  partly  seen, 
Like  pomegranates  mid  their  green, 
So,  thy  temples,  I  descry, 
As  retreating  from  mine  eye. 

Three  score  queens,  acknowledged  mine, 
Four  score,  ranked  as  concubine, 
Virgins,  numberless,  are  there, 
In  my  palace  great  and  fair ; 

43 


Thou,  my  dove,  shalt  reign  alone, 
Thou,  thy  mother's  most  loved  one, 
Crowned  the  queen  of  all  the  land, 
Thou  shalt  sit  at  my  right  hand. 
Thee  the  Daughters  saw  and  blessed, 
Queens  and  concubines  confessed 
All  thy  grace  and  virtues  rare, 
In  thy  love  they'd  gladly  share. 

(Proposal  rejected ;   exit  Solomon.) 

(End  of  Fourth  Day.) 


Note  on  Fourth  Day 

(17)  "Jerusalem,  glorious  queen." 

The  phrase  is  taken  from  the  Book  of  Tobit. 

Jerusalem,  like  Edinburgh,  owes  its  existence  to  an  impregnable  rock 
fortress,  and  both  are  picturesquely  situated;  but  the  romance  of  history 
is  immeasurably  in  favor  of  Jerusalem.  Economically,  there  is  nothing 
in  favor  of  the  establishment  of  a  metropolis  in  either  place.  Neither  is 
on  a  military  or  commercial  highway,  so  neither  has  advantages  for 
manufactures,  yet  both  are  thriving  cities  at  the  present  time.  The  pen, 
and  not  the  loom,  has  been  the  prime  factor  in  their  prosperity.  Both 
are  loved  for  their  literature,  but  no  city  can  ever  be  loved  and  pitied  as 
Jerusalem  is,  and  has  been  for  thousands  of  years.  Jerusalem  has  called 
forth  praise  from  divinely  inspired  poets,  and  it  has  been  lamented  in 
unapproachable  dirges  of  distress.  Its  future  glories  have  inspired  mil- 
lions with  comfort  and  hope,  and  its  reverses  formed  the  great  concern 
of  Jesus  on  His  way  to  the  cross.  When  the  last  of  the  seers  goes  be- 
yond his  natural  powers  to  describe  the  abode  of  the  immortals  —  purified, 
enlightened  and  glorified,  redeemed  beyond  the  power  of  the  enemy  and 
restored  beyond  the  possibility  of  relapse  —  the  crowning  figure  of  speech 
is  "New  Jerusalem."    . 

44 


And  such  a  history !  Breaking  upon  the  student's  vision  as  the  "City 
of  Peace,"  governed  by  a  priest  of  the  Most  High  God,  it  retires  from 
view  for  a  thousand  years,  to  reappear  as  the  stubborn,  unassailable 
Jebus,  defying  all  the  attempts  of  Israel  to  reduce  the  stronghold  of  Zion, 
and  deriding  even  the  successful  David,  to  whom  its  rulers  sent  a  mes- 
sage, intimating  that  they  had  placed  a  guard  of  blind  and  lame  men  to 
resist  his  assault. 

Reduced  by  David,  he  endeavored  to  have  it  renamed  after  himself, 
but  was  unsuccessful  in  that  ambition.  Solomon  made  it  the  richest, 
and  then  the  most  famous,  city  in  the  world,  inviting  the  avarice  after- 
wards, as  it  did  at  the  time  the  admiration,  of  surrounding  and  even  far 
distant  nations. 

Since  then  it  has  been  the  cynosure  of  the  eyes  of  civilization,  and 
many  millions  expect  it  to  be  the  capital  of  a  peaceful  world,  where  a 
king  shall  reign  in  righteousness.  Peace  !  after  fourteen  recorded  sieges, 
and  annihilation  three  times  repeated. 

There  is  a  rabbinical  story  regarding  its  ruins  after  its  overthrow  by 
Hadrian,  A.  D.  135.  Two  rabbis  were  visiting  the  sacred  and  loved  ruins, 
when  one,  moved  to  expression  of  the  deepest  sorrow,  repeated  the  lament 
for  Zion  and  the  inextinguishable  love  of  Israel  for  her,  in  the  words  of 
Psalm  CXXXVII.  The  other  skipped  from  one  pile  of  rubbish  to  an- 
other, uttering  the  praises  of  Jehovah  in  selections  from  the  most  tri- 
umphant of  the  Psalms.  Looking  between  the  mists  of  tears,  the  dis- 
tressed one  marked  the  unseemly  levity  of  the  other,  and  remonstrated 
with  him.  The  other  replied,  "Hast  thou  not  read  and  hast  thou  not 
taught  that  Jehovah  is  faithful  to  His  promises?  He  warned  us  of  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  lo !  His  word  is  fulfilled ;  He  has  prom- 
ised a  succeeding  glory  which  I  know  He  is  more  determined  shall  come 
to  pass.  If  judgment  is  God's  strange  work,  and  it  has  been  accom- 
plished, much  more  shall  restoration,  in  which  He  delights,  be  assured." 


45 


Fifth  Day 

Scene  —  The  royal  residence  at  Tirsah. 

Solomon  relates  his  own  experiences,  stating  that  at  early  morn  he 
had  gone  forth  to  pursue  his  botanical  studies,  going  to  his  garden  at 
the  foot  of  the  hill  upon  which  Tirzah  was  built. 

He  tells  that  quite  unexpectedly  he  is  confronted  by  the  beautiful 
Abishag,  probably  in  simple  garb,  and  so  he  fails,  at  first,  to  recognize  her. 

But  the  influence  upon  him  of  the  lovely  Shulamite  is  more  intense 
than  even  before,  and  he  declares  himself  wholly  overcome  by  her  charms. 

The  attendants,  becoming  aware  of  the  king's  plight,  and  recognizing 
her,  demand  that  she  return  to  await  the  king's  pleasure. 

She  replies  that  she  is  fleeing  from  his  presence,  and  intimates  her 
inability  to  contribute  to  the  king's  happiness. 

They  reply  that  she  can  and  shall  minister  to  his  gratification  by 
performing  a  sensuous  dance  in  his  presence,  which  takes  place  that 
same  day. 

The  dance  being  concluded,  she  is  placed  in  the  custody  of  Ahishar, 
who  lavishes  compliments  on  the  personal  loveliness  of  the  nude  per- 
former, but  the  language  is  that  of  a  connoisseur  of  female  perfections 
and  attractions ;  the  part  is  only  possible  for  the  eunuch  in  charge 
of  a  harem. 

The  favor,  extended  at  the  outset  to  Abishag's  preferences,  is  re- 
peated when  the  shepherd  is  allowed  admission  into  the  presence  of 
the  heroine,  after  the  king  has  taken  his  departure. 

Abishag  entreats  Dodah  to  provide  for  her  escape,  picturing  to  her- 
self and  to  him  the  happiness  which  their  freedom  promises.  Thus  far 
the  eunuch,  Ahishar,  has  tolerated  their  love-making,  but  he  can  not 
allow  their  flight,  so  Dodah  retires  to  the  country. 

Solomon  {to  Ahishar)  — 

My  footsteps,  in  the  morning  hours, 
I  turned  towards  my  cherished  flowers ;  (18) 
The  walnuts  I  went  forth  to  view, 
The  valley  fruits  examined,  too ; 
46 


My  vines  obtained  observant  care, 
Which  budding  pomegranates  did  share. 
A  vision  I,  amazed,  beheld, 
My  courage  felt  completely  quelled, 
As  if  surrounding  chariots  came, 
All  driven  by  men  of  martial  fame, 
As  army  marching  to  the  fight, 
So  terrible  upon  my  sight. 
The  morning  ne'er  more  fair  did  show, 
The  sun  did  never  brighter  glow, 
The  moon  no  clearer  beams  displayed 
Than  did  this  fleeing  peasant  maid. 
Attendants  spoke,  I  stood  appalled ; 
"Return,  thou  Shulamite,"  they  called. (19) 

She  spoke :     "I  safety  seek  in  flight, 
I  would  avoid  the  royal  sight ; 
What  would  ye  with  the  Shulamite  ?" 

"Return,"  they  cried,  "thou,  void  of  shame, 
Thou'lt  dance  for  him  the  Mahanaim."  (20) 

(The  dance  is  performed  in  the  presence  of  the  king,  after  which  Abishag 
is  addressed  by  Ahishar,  the  chamberlain.) 

Ahishar  — 

Thou  princess  of  Beauty,  in  dancing  today, 
Thy  light  springing  footsteps  thy  sandals  display; 
Perfection  of  motion  thy  thigh  joints  convey. 
More  graceful  thy  form  than  by  sculptor  designed, 
More  glorious  than  gold,  with  rare  jewels  combined ; 
Thy  form,  most  voluptuous,  the  wine  jar  suggests,  (21) 
Well  filled,  as  thy  vigorous  motion  attests. 

47 


Thy  zone,  like  a  band  of  bright  lilies,  appears, 
Confining  the  sheaf  with  its  treasure  of  ears ; 
Thy  breasts,  like  the  twins  of  the  graceful  gazelle, 
Retreating  from  sight  in  retirement  to  dwell. 
With  tower,  built  of  ivory,  stalwart  and  fair, 
Thy  neck,  in  its  structure,  may  fitly  compare. 
Thine  eyes,  clear  and  liquid,  like  Heshbon's  deep 

pools,  (22) 
Betoken  the  stronghold  intelligence  rules ; 
Thy  nose,  like  Libanus,  lifts  proudly  on  high, 
Like  fortified  slopes,  which  Damascus  are  nigh ; 
Thy  head,  like  Mount  Carmel,  most  shapely,  rich 

crowned, 
With  purple  of  kings,  should  its  tresses  be  bound. 
E'en  the  king,  set  on  high,  in  its  bondage  was  held, 
Indignant  he  came,  but  his  anger  was  quelled. 
How  fair  and  how  pleasant,  delightful  thou  art, 
To  me  such  enjoyment  might  almost  impart. 
If  thou  wert  a  palm  tree  ambition  sublime 
Would  urge  me  to  gather  thy  fruits,  I  would  climb. 
Like  clusters  of  Eschol's,  thy  luscious  twin  breasts ; 
Thy  breath,  the  aroma  of  apples  suggests ; 
Thy  speech  is  like  wine  of  a  vintage  that's  choice, 
Gliding  smooth,  even  the  sleeper  is  charmed  with 

thy  voice. 

(Enter  Dodah,  perceived  by  Abishag.) 

Abishag  — 

Cease,  flatterer,  cease !  my  loved  one's  here ; 
I'm  his  and  his  alone. 

48 


Come  forth,  my  love,  the  night  draws  near, 
Afield  let  us  be  gone. 

The  villages,  our  rest,  invite ; 

Then,  early  waked,  we'll  rove, 
The  budding  vines  shall  please  our  sight, 

Pomegranates  bloom  our  love. 

Oh !  that  thou  wert  a  brother  dear, 

My  mother's  suckled,  thou, 
That  I  had  chanced  to  meet  thee  here, 

I'd  kiss  thee  here  and  now. 

Then  none  might  ardent  love  despise, 

I'd  lead  thee  to  our  home ; 
My  mother  might  our  course  advise, 

Our  teacher  she'd  become. 

Then  wine,  well  spiced,  I  should  bring  forth 

Of  pomegranates  sweet  wine; 
Thy  left  hand  should  my  head  support, 

Thy  right  my  form  entwine. 

Oh,  Daughters  of  Jerusalem ! 

Your  friendly  pleadings  cease, 
My  love  can  not  be  moved  by  them, 

'Twill  rest  until  it  please. 

(End  of  Fifth  Day.) 


49 


Notes  on  Fifth  Day 

(18)  "I  turned  towards  my  cherished  flowers." 

The  rabbis  say  that  Solomon  was  on  speaking  terms  with  all  nature, 
but  whether  or  not  he  be  the  author  of  this  book,  it  is  certain  that  the 
writer  loved  the  country,  for  the  names  of  twenty-one  plants  and  of 
fifteen  animals  occur  in  it. 

(19)  "  'Return,  thou  Shulamite,'  they  called." 

Eusebius,  in  the  fourth  century,  and  most  modern  geographers, 
identify  the  names  Shunem,  Sulem,  Shulaem,  and  Shulam,  with  the 
location  in  Issachar  associated  with  Abishag,  and  also  with  the  great 
woman  who  took  such  good  care  of  Elisha. 

(20)  "Thou'lt  dance  for  him  the  'Mahanaim'." 

There  is  diversity  of  both  taste  and  judgment  in  the  treatment  of 
this  word,  some  preferring  the  obscurity  of  the  prose  translation,  while 
most  of  the  readers  of  this  manuscript  justified  the  writer  in  the  use  he 
has  made  of  it. 

(21)  "Thy  form,  most  voluptuous,  the  wine  jar  suggests." 

The  writer  makes  no  apology  for  softening  the  asperities  of  the 
original,  only  too  faithfully  translated  in  all  our  versions.  It  may  be 
argued  that  the  very  coarseness  of  the  text  proves  its  integrity  and 
antiquity,  yet  there  are  other  and  higher  considerations  which  all  the 
examiners  of  the  manuscript  have  admitted  to  be  paramount.  It  is  not 
prudery  to  render  the  original  in  the  most  conventional  language  which 
may  convey  the  idea  fully,  instead  of  clinging  to  a  verbal  exactness, 
which  is  really  not  any  more  explicit.  That  the  text  is  poetry,  not 
history,  should  be  kept  in  mind. 

This  chapter  and  some  passages  towards  the  end  of  the  hfth,  induced 
the  rabbis  to  place  the  book  along  with  those  prohibited  to  youth  under 
thirty,  and  the  reader  even  then  had  to  wash  his  hands  after  its  perusal. 

(22)  "Heshbon's  great  pool." 

Remains  of  this  reservoir  are  yet  visible,  but  the  insertion  of  flsh 
in  the  author's  version  is  gratuitous.  The  versification  turns  on  a  play 
on  the  etymology  of  "Heshbon" —  intelligence.     There  being  no  trace  of 

50 


Bath-rabbim  in  either  the  traditions  or  remains  of  the  place,  no  use  is 
made  of  the  name  in  this  versificaton. 

Heshbon,  eventually  a  Levitical  city,  was  situated  on  the  boundary 
between  Reuben  and  Gad,  east  of  Jordan,  occupying  an  elevated  site. 

A  fragment  of  an  Amorite  song  preserved  in  Numbers  xxi  should 
interest  Bible  readers. 

In  defense  of  the  play  on  the  word  "Heshbon"  it  may  be  adduced 
that  Amos  (viii:  1-2)  does  the  same  in  the  original,  where  orally  "Ketz" 
may  mean  either  "the  end"  or  a  basket  of  summer  fruit,  and  so  frequently 
in  the  Bible  there  are  sacred  puns. 


51 


Sixth  Day 

Scene  —  An  orchard. 

The  Daughters,  accompanied  by  Abishag,  are  abroad,  and,  looking 
over  the  adjacent  pasture  lands,  perceive  the  approach  of  a  venerable 
pair,  giving  evidence  of  conjugal  affection.  The  heroine  recognizes  her 
parents,  and  all  go  to  meet  them. 

The  father  (Abimael)  now  for  the  first  time  appearing  in  the  drama, 
recalls  the  circumstances  of  the  birth  of  Abishag  to  her,  and  tells  of 
her  early  and  effective  training. 

Solomon  has  followed  and,  entering,  is  at  once  addressed  by  Abimael 
on  the  philosophy  of  the  affections.  The  king  listens  respectfully,  even 
while  the  heroine  rather  taunts  him  with  her  treatment,  and  here  the 
reader  is  referred  to  the  enigma  of  the  little  sister,  which  yields  at  once 
to  dramatic  interpretation.  From  some  personal  knowledge  of  a  phase 
of  Solomon's  character,  not  elsewhere  recorded,  Abimael  proposes  a 
ruinous  ransom  for  Abishag,  which  the  spendthrift  king  accordingly 
accepts,  and  the  love  chase  of  King  Solomon  ends,  as  it  began,  with 
little  credit  to  the  monarch. 

Abishag  now  invokes  the  presence  of  Dodah  in  song.  He  arrives, 
and  the  pair  take  their  departure  in  the  spirit  of  a  triumphant  chorus. 

Rural  love  has  mastered  court  attractions.  The  whole-hearted  and 
rich-minded  Dodah  has  defeated  the  sensuous  and  unsentimental 
Solomon. 

If  Ecclesiastes  be  the  work  of  Solomon,  then  we  may  judge  what  he 
means  when  he  laments :  "I  have  found  among  the  thousands  of  my 
courtiers  a  man  whom  I  can  love  and  trust,  but  among  the  thousand  of 
my  harem,  not  one  congenial  soul."  The  murderer  of  his  half-brother, 
Adonijah,  for  the  sake  of  Abishag,  is  rewarded  in  Abishag's  determined 
preference  for  a  peasant. 

Chorus  of  Daughters  — 

Across  the  meadows,  journeying  hence, 

Who  are  this  pair  our  eyes  descry? 
His  shoulder  bears,  in  sweet  suspense, 

Her  resting  arm  most  lovingly. 

52 


(Enter  Abimael,  who  addresses  Abishag.) 

Abimael  — 

Beneath  yon  applf.  tree,  whose  shade, 

Thy  mother,  kindly  hiding, 
Her  newborn  infant  helpless  laid, 
To  father's  care  confiding. 

(Enter  Solomon,  and  to  him  Abimael.) 

Since  then,  in  right  and  wisdom's  ways, 

Her  youthful  feet  directing, 
So  diligent,  in  lapse  and  strays, 

Reproving  and  correcting. 

Oh !   happy  she  whose  father's  words 

Upon  her  heart  retaining, 
As  seal  to  wax  its  stamp  accords, 

Clear  and  unchanged  remaining. 

As  on  the  arm  the  bracelet  shines, 
Its  gems  undimmed,  unwearing, 

My  counsel  love  with  truth  combines, 
The  wearer's  worth  declaring. 

For  willful  love  might  lead  to  death, 
And  jealous  men  are  cruel,  (23) 

When  hot  as  Shed's  burning  breath, 
Distrust  provides  the  fuel. 

But  love  that's  true  is  like  a  flame, 

Lit  by  Jehovah's  spirit, 
Nor  floods  can  quench  or  drown  that  same, 

Nor  waters'  waste  can  wear  it. 

53 


For  love  like  this  proposal's  vain 
Of  wealth  or  kingly  dwelling; 

True  love  such  offer  would  disdain, 
It's  worth  all  else  excelling. 

Her  sisters  undeveloped  breasts(24) 
Proclaim  her  years  yet  tender, 

When  coming  years  may  find  request 
Made  for  her  like  surrender. 

Then  Truth  shall  fence  her  like  a  wall, 
With  silver  towers  commanding, 

And  Virtue  barricade  her  shall 
From  tyrants'  lusts'  demanding. 

Abishag  — 

A  wall  indeed  did  me  surround, 

My  breasts  like  towers  defending, 
That  day  I  favor  with  him  found, 

And  dangers  were  transcending. 

Abimael  (resuming  to  Solomon)  — 
Thy  vineyard  at  Baal-hamon  yields 

A  thousand  silver  pieces 
From  each  who  occupies  thy  fields. 

And  lives  by  their  increases. 

From  vineyard  that's  before  me  spread, 

Oh !   Solomon,  I'll  yearly 
A  thousand  pieces  give  instead 

Of  her  I  love  so  dearly. 

54 


Two  hundred  for  the  dressers  pay, 

Of  finest  silver  pieces, 
Then  hence,  content,  will  take  our  way, 

When  her  thy  hand  releases. 

(Abislmg,  after  Solomon  consents,  sings.) 
Abishag  — 

Oh !  happy  the  vine  dressers  list  to  thy  song, 

I  fain  would  its  melody  hear ; 
Oh !   why  dost  thou  tarry,  thy  absence  prolong, 
Oh !  when  will  my  loved  one  appear. 

(Enter  shepherd.) 

General  Chorus  — 

Then  hasten,  we'll  flee  like  the  hunted  gazelle, 

The  spice  hills  are  chiding  delay; 
In  love  that's  connubial  forever  we'll  dwell, 

We'll  hasten  ;   we'll  hasten  away. 

Curtain. 


Notes  on  Sixth  Day 

(23)  "For  jealous  men  are  cruel." 

Abimael  may  at  this  point  refer  Solomon  to  his  arbitrary  and  cruel 
treatment  of  Adonijah. 

(24)  "Her  sister's  undeveloped  breasts,"  etc. 

The  writer  congratulates  himself  in  being  able  to  present  this  pas- 
sage in  an  intelligent  form  and  connection,  for  the  first  time  in  its 
modern  history. 

55 


CONCLUSION 

When  the  "Song  of  Songs"  had  been  irremovably  remanded  to  the 
canon,  in  A.  D.  90,  at  Jamnia,  the  dictum  of  R.  Akiba  being  accepted 
apparently  unanimously  by  the  assembled  rabbis,  the  allegorical  inter- 
pretation brought  into  vogue  by  Philo,  two  centuries  previous,  was  at 
once  applied  to  it ;  although  that  scholar  was  perfectly  well  acquainted 
with  the  canon  as  a  whole,  he  makes  no  mention  of  this  book,  a  circum- 
stance rather  remarkable.  The  rabbis  perceived  in  its  erotic  language 
the  love  of  God  for  Israel,  the  bride  of  Jehovah,  as  in  Jeremiah  ii :  2, 
or  Isaiah  lxv :  5,  and  her  appreciative  response,  although  in  the  masculine 
gender,  as  in  Hosea  ii :  15-17 ;  or  they  understood  the  speakers  to  be 
God  and  the  soul. 

The  "Targum"  says  of  the  book :  "It  is  the  history  of  Israel  from 
the  Exodus  until  the  time  of  Messiah ;"  but  many  distinguished  Jewish 
scholars  are  unwilling  to  admit  any  interpretation  of  the  book,  preferring 
to  view  it  as  a  collection  of  fragments  of  popular  love  songs,  an  anthology 
purely  secular. 

Its  first  appearance  in  Christian  literature,  for  it  is  not  even  traceable 
in  the  New  Testament,  is  in  the  ten-volume  commentary  which  Origen, 
in  the  earlier  half  of  the  third  century,  is  said  to  have  written.  As 
might  have  been  expected  from  a  man  of  his  bent,  he  accepts  the  alle- 
gorical interpretation,  the  book  being,  in  his  view  of  it,  a  dialogue 
between  the  Christ  and  the  church.  A  century  later,  Theodosius  of  Mop- 
suestia  ventured  the  opinion  that  the  book  was  purely  secular,  encoun- 
tering no  hostility  at  the  time ;  but  a  century  still  later,  when  the  Nesto- 
rian  controversy  had  resulted  in  the  fixing  of  the  phrase  "Mother  of 
God"  into  the  theology  of  the  orthodox  church,  the  very  zealous  per- 
ceived the  Virgin  Mary  in  the  female  character,  and  at  the  Council  of 
Constantinople,  A.  D.  553,  the  defunct  Theodosius  was  cited  to  appear 
for  trial,  and,  as  usual,  spiteful  ecclesiastics,  readier  to  close  the  gates 
than  they  are  diligent  to  keep  them  open,  excommunicated  the  bishop, 
with  what  results  will  never  be  known. 

The  "Breviary"  and  "Missal"  of  the  Latin  Church  both  exhibit  that 
interpretation  now,  but  the  notes  to  the  Douay  Bible  indicate  a  prefer- 
ence for  Origen's  view,  which  is  the  prevalent  one  in  the  Teutonic  and 
Anglican  bodies. 


Both  Catholic  theologians  (Bossuet  and  others)  as  well  as  Evangel- 
ical, including  Lowth,  have  accepted  both  the  literal  and  allegorical  char- 
acter of  the  book  as  the  basis  of  their  expositions  of  portions  of  it. 

Fanciful  applications  of  all  and  of  parts  of  the  book,  of  no  special 
importance  and  therefore  omitted  here,  have  appeared  from  time  to 
time,  but  the  most  curious  adaptation  of  it  to  a  situation  that  the  writer 
has  met  with  is  to  be  found  in  Chaucer's  Canterbury  Tales,  in  the  story 
of  "January  and  May,"  told  by  the  merchant,  the  characters  being  "Janu- 
ary," an  old  and  blind  husband,  and  "May,"  his  young  and  too  gay  wife. 
As  there  are  reasons  why  it  would  be  better  for  the  wholly  modern  reader 
to  acquaint  himself  merely  with  the  extract  rather  than  with  the  whole 
story,  it  is  given  here  at  length  : 

"Rys  up  my  wyf,  my  love,  my  lady  free, 
The  turtle's  vois  is  herd,  my  douve  swete, 
The  winter  is  goon,  with  alle  his  reynes  wete, 
Com  forth  now,  with  thyne  ey'en  Columbyn. 
How  fairer  bene  thy  brestes  than  weyn 
The  garden  is  enclosed  alle  aboute, 
Com  forth  my  whyte  spous ;   out  of  doubte 
Thou  hast  me  wonded  in  myn  hert,  O  wyf ! 
No  spot  of  thee,  ne  knew  I  all  my  lyf, 
Com  forth  and  lat  us  taken  our  disport, 
I  chese  thee  for  my  wyf  and  my  comfort, 
Swiche  olde  lewed  wordes  used  he." 

On  account  of  Chaucer's  satires  on  the  religious  orders,  he  is  ranked 
with  the  Lollards  of  the  fifteenth  century,  but  whatever  he  says  oppro- 
briously  of  the  regular  clergy  is  fully  counterbalanced  by  his  fine  portrait 
of  a  faithful,  generous  and  sympathetic  secular  priest.  However,  there 
are  those,  and  no  mean  authority  either,  who  claim  that  the  poet  had 
Wyclif  in  mind. 

But  the  reason  for  inserting  the  above  quotation  is  to  show  that  the 
allegorical  interpretation  was  not  exclusive  prior  to  the  Reformation, 
and  it  seems  somewhat  paradoxical  that  the  cry  of  "Private  Judgment  of 
the  Word  of  God"  practically  excepts  this  book. 


The  Calf  Cult  of  Israel 


The  Calf  Cult  of  Israel 

The  purpose  of  this  short  treatise,  and  its  being  appended  to  the 
dramatization  of  "Canticles,"  is  to  induce  a  more  generous  spirit  in  the 
hearts  of  Bible  readers  when  their  minds  may  chance  to  contemplate 
the  shortcomings  of  Israel.  Possibly  the  reader,  were  he  to  compare 
carefully  and  conscientiously  his  own  compatriots  and  co-religionists  with 
the  denounced  "House  of  Israel,"  might  find  but  little  grounds  for  con- 
gratulation in  conduct  of  life,  doctrine  or  devotions. 

HOW  far  religion  can  tolerate  within  itself  an  admixture 
of  error  in  its  doctrine  and  in  its  devotions  without 
entirely  failing  to  effect  religion's  good  influences  on 
the  conduct  of  the  worshipper,  it  may  be  impossible  to  determine. 

There  is  no  religious  system  worthy  of  the  name  which  has 
remained  unchanged  from  the  time  of  its  promulgation.  Juda- 
ism had  its  Sadducees  and  Pharisees,  later  its  Karaites ;  and 
in  modern  times  it  is  divided  into  the  Orthodox  and  Reform, 
which  parties  are  nearly  as  hostile  as  were  the  Samaritans  and 
Jews  towards  each  other.  That  Christianity  is  not  primitive  in 
any  exercise  of  its  faith  is  a  charge  easily  established  by  taking 
the  word  of  any  one  unimpeachable  body  against  all  others. 

It  may  be  pleaded  that  improvements  have  been  introduced 
in  superior  methods  or  more  esthetic  forms  of  worship,  but 
change  as  such  is  manifest;  radicals  work  for  it,  conservatives 
oppose  it  and  moderates  guide  it,  but  come  it  surely  does. 

Yet  there  should  be  some  recognized  test  by  which  every 
innovation  might  be  measured,  whether  that  change  be  the 
modification  of  something  already  approved  of,  or  the  intro- 
duction of  that  which  is  wholly  new.  That  test  should  deter- 
mine the  value  of  the  proposed  change  as  a  factor  in  augmenting 

59 


morality,  intelligence  and  benevolence,  while  sentimentally  pro- 
ducing the  humble  and  contrite  heart,  the  desideratum  of  all 
religious  activities.  If  the  proposed  change  is  merely  an  ex- 
hibition of  restlessness,  if  it  be  a  whim  born  of  sentimental 
dreams,  or  if  it  be  merely  traceable  to  that  admiration  of  the 
beautiful  which  defies  bounds  and  rules,  then  religion  will 
resolve  itself  into  a  matter  of  personal  preference,  the  deceived 
worshipper  will  imagine  that  God  is  being  adored,  when  only 
his  own  mental  vagaries  or  love  of  the  sensuous  is  being 
gratified. 

That  worship  and  doctrine  which  induces  candor  between 
a  man's  conscience  and  himself,  thus  leading  him  to  acknowl- 
edge insufficiency  in  service  and  inconsistency  of  conduct,  will 
be  productive  of  the  ideal  citizen,  the  freeman  who  in  all  future 
history  will  insist  on  his  rights,  as  his  fathers  in  that  faith  have 
done  before  him. 

Even  a  casual  reading  of  the  prophets,  Hosea  and  Amos, 
will  enlighten  the  inquirer  regarding  the  influence  of  the  bovine 
cult  on  Israel.  Pride,  sensuality,  oppression  and  injustice  were 
everywhere ;  moreover,  such  priests  as  Amaziah,  the  antagonist 
of  Amos,  were  apologists  for  the  situation,  against  the  patriotic 
protests  of  those  prophets  who  remained  faithful ;  but  they 
were  too  few  to  be  effective,  the  mass  of  them,  on  the  relaxation 
of  the  persecution  incited  by  Jezebel,  becoming  the  sycophants 
of  Ahab  and  his  successors,  and  celebrating  that  form  of  wor- 
ship which  the  Almighty  declared  an  abomination,  although 
directed  to  Him  and  not  to  any  foreign  deity. 

The  curse  of  hard  labor  on  a  race  bearing  the  mental  and 
spiritual  image  of  the  benefactor  of  mankind,  that  curse  divert- 
ing the  mind  from  the  knowledge  of  God  as  much  as  it  also 
alienated  the  heart,  might  well  appeal  to  the  fountain  of  mercy 

HO 


to  the  extent  that  he  would  either  by  revelation  to  the  mind  of 
the  best  of  the  race,  or  through  the  instrumentality  of  a  heavenly 
messenger,  instruct  suffering  man  to  transfer  the  weightiest  of 
his  burdens  to  the  shoulders  of  a  docile,  patient  and  strong 
animal ;  further  that  the  propitiatory  or  expiatory  idea  —  its 
outgrowth  —  would  be  deemed  acceptable  to  the  Great  Bene- 
factor, and  offenses  cancelled,  when  in  acknowledgment  of  un- 
worthiness  and  profession  of  gratitude,  in  the  simple  erecting 
of  an  altar  or  stage  of  earth  or  rough  stones  and  in  the  burning 
of  all  or  part  of  one  of  these  animals  thereon,  the  worshipper 
would,  for  the  time  being,  be  assured  of  the  good  will  of  God; 
further,  the  frequent  act  of  communion  between  God  and  man 
would  be  blessed  towards  the  advancement  of  man  in  goodness 
and  truth,  and  the  faded  image  of  God  in  the  heart  should  by 
those  simple  means  be  restored. 

Yet  further,  that  when  the  flesh  of  man's  devoted  servant 
should  be  made  the  substance  of  social  rejoicings,  the  invocation 
of  God  on  the  feast  should  be  instrumental  in  keeping  pure  the 
social  relations,  and  of  producing  an  invincible  nation,  when  the 
increase  of  mankind  made  such  an  association  together  for 
mutual  protection  and  advancement  necessary. 

Immediately  the  bovine  would  suggest  and  represent  the 
goodness,  compassion  and  mercy  of  God,  and  the  animal  would 
be  therefore  honored  and  precious. 

This  state  of  mind  towards  the  animal  may  in  some  measure 
account  for  the  great  herds  of  cattle  which  formed  the  non- 
negotiable  wealth  of  the  Mesopotamians.  Their  wool,  camels 
and  asses  they  might  exchange  for  silver  and  gold  or  ornaments 
for  the  person,  for  tents,  or  the  spicery  of  the  traveling  mer- 
chants, but  there  was  no  account  to  which  the  immense  herds 
of  cattle  could  be  turned,  the  plundering  of  nomads  and  the 

61 


domestic  and  sacrificial  consumption  being  all  that  would  keep 
the  numbers  in  check,  except  we  take  into  account  the  depreda- 
tions of  wild  beasts.  Travelers  in  India  tell  of  the  sacred  cow 
of  that  country  which,  geographically  considered,  is  the  natural 
depository  for  a  traditional  respect  for  this  great  boon  to  man. 

Naturally  the  earliest  efforts  in  art  of  a  religious  people 
would  be  devotional  in  spirit,  and  the  form  which  was  so  sug- 
gestive of  the  welfare  of  the  race  would  be  the  first  rude  prod- 
uct of  the  primitive  sculptor.  Inspired  by  the  warmest  and 
loftiest  sentiments  while  in  the  realization  of  the  mental  concept, 
the  result  would  be  something  which  would  be  the  admiration 
and  wonder  of  his  less  laborious  and  less  thorough,  and  not  so 
entirely  committed,  neighbors,  who  regard  in  all  ages  a  special 
exercise  of  divine  endowment  in  the  artist,  and  in  ruder  ages 
we  may  perceive  a  doulia,  as  theologians  term  the  respect  paid 
by  the  wise  men  to  the  infant  King  of  the  Jews,  accorded  to  the 
work  of  art,  rather  than  the  latria,  payable  only  to  God.  In 
Judaism,  the  looking  to  the  brazen  serpent  led  to  its  adoration 
six  or  seven  hundred  years  later.  So  the  transition  from  the 
respect  paid  to  the  totem  of  Mesopotamia  to  the  adoption  of 
it  as  a  means  of  worship  directed  to  Jehovah  was  a  natural  one, 
especially  when  we  see  in  our  day,  and  in  all  history,  how  a 
thoughtless  mankind  are  ready  at  all  times  to  praise  or  blame 
the  most  proximate  factor  or  agent  as  the  original  source. 

Israel  knew  very  well  that  the  commandment,  "Thou  shalt 
have  no  other  gods  with  me,"  meant  something  different  from 
that  containing  the  phrase,  "before  me,"  and  they  obey  the 
former  now  to  the  letter.  No  gorgeously  clad  peasantry  nor 
effeminately  visaged  divinity  in  stained  glass  diverts  the  rude 
nor  disturbs  the  cultured,  thus  setting  a  good  example  to  other 
systems  of  religion ;    but  it  took  seventy  years  of  exile  and  a 

62 


bosom  friendship  of  the  Medes  and  Persians  to  cure  them  of 
the  artificial  in  public  worship. 

It  will  assuredly  be  remarked  that  much  of  the  foregoing  is 
conclusion  reached  through  conjecture,  but  all  is  not  a  bow 
drawn  at  a  venture. 

Having  thus  discussed  the  origin  and  purpose  of  the  bovine 
cult,  it  is  our  purpose  next  to  trace  its  history  in  Israel.  Al- 
though it  was  Mesopotamian  in  its  origin,  and  was  carried  into 
Egypt  by  the  assailants  of  that  country  coming  from  the  North- 
east, yet  both  in  the  former  and  latter  countries  it  ill  repre- 
sented the  rapacity  of  an  invading  army,  and  as  we  see  in  the 
Assyrian  sculptures,  it  was  conjoined  with  the  parts  of  more 
warlike  animals ;  also,  the  boasted  philosophy  of  the  Euphrates 
territory  with  its  wisdom  of  Teman,  and  its  astrology  of  Chal- 
dea,  took  their  part  in  the  frequent  man-faced  composition. 
The  reader  is  referred  with  all  reverence  to  the  visions  of  John 
and  of  Ezekiel,  from  which  he  may  draw  his  own  conclusions 
if  he  so  prefers ;  the  writer  feels  sure  that  the  four-facing 
cherub  of  the  gate  of  Paradise,  having  descended  by  tradition 
independent  of  the  account  given  by  Moses,  furnished  the 
national  emblem  of  the  winged  bull  or  lion  or  man-faced  animal 
of  either  kind.  Benevolence  figured  in  the  bovine  was  insuffi- 
cient, so  the  proud  man  and  vindictive  lion,  as  well  as  the  rapa- 
cious and  swift  eagle,  were  conjoined.  As  we  shall  see  further 
on,  Israel  was  not  free  from  this  later  invention  which,  with 
them  taking  the  cue  from  the  Mesopotamians  who  had  migrated 
to  Aram,  they  utilized  as  a  household  arbiter  of  luck  and  fore- 
knowledge of  the  event  of  undertakings. 

The  statement  is  ventured  here  that  wherever  in  the  Bible 
there  is  mention  made  of  a  molten  and  (a)  graven  image,  then 
the  calf  or  young  bull  or  heifer  is  indicated,  whereas  in  all 

63 


passages  reading  "strange  gods,"  the  teraphim  is  intended,  as 
indeed  it  is  in  the  original,  and  is  so  distinguishable  from  "other 
gods,"  signifying  the  deified  powers  of  nature  worshipped  with 
grossly  immoral  accompaniments. 

The  ordinary  run  of  Bible  readers  would  stigmatize  the  sub- 
ject with  a  single  word  if  an  inquiry  into  the  origin,  the  signifi- 
cance, the  purpose,  the  character  and  the  insufficiency  of  the 
calf  cult  were  proposed.  The  simple  term,  "idolatry,"  would 
be  used  and  the  subject  dismissed,  the  truth  being  comparatively 
easy  of  demonstration  —  that  the  same  mistake  regarding  the 
worship  of  God  embodied  in  the  calf  is  present  in  the  devotions 
of  every  congregation  of  worshippers  today,  more  or  less. 
The  worship  of  God  by  any  other  means  than  that  appointed 
in  His  word  is  of  the  exact  character  of  this  cult  of  Israel. 

First,  as  to  its  origin.  The  apostle  Paul  enumerates  retro- 
spectively the  mistaken  notions  of  those  who  conceive  in  their 
minds  an  idea  of  the  divine  being  and  bring  that  idea  forth  into 
bodily  form.  In  his  day  it  was  a  man  that  represented  God, 
and  the  religion  of  his  times  actuated  sculpture,  and  later  paint- 
ing, to  the  limits  of  human  ability  in  producing  perfect  models 
of  the  human  body,  which  were  used  to  incite  mental  concep- 
tions of  the  appearance  personally  of  the  gods.  Paul's  next 
point  of  view  shows  the  four-footed  beast,  the  bovine  cult  of 
earlier  times,  that  in  its  turn  descending  to  serpent  worship,  the 
earliest  of  all  and  perhaps  pre-Adamic. 

The  first  notion  of  an  unseen  being  whose  province  lay  in 
the  forces  of  nature  would  be  of  a  malignant  power  whom  it 
would  be  wisdom  to  propitiate,  and  the  appearance  of  this  form 
would  be  suggested  by  the  serpent,  which  was  the  most  insidious 
and  deadly  enemy,  concealed  yet  ever  present,  wise  and  differ- 

64 


ing  in  its  appearance,  habits  and  motion  from  any  other  animal 
within  man's  knowledge. 

The  enmity  of  the  unseen  he  sought  to  propitiate  with  gifts, 
for  he  knew  that  his  serpent  enemy  when  satisfied  would  hide 
away  from  sight  and  for  a  while  give  no  more  trouble.  Gifts 
to  the  unseen  enemy  which  inflicted  ills  of  tempest  or  climatic 
extremes,  animated  the  attacks  of  wild  beasts,  or  laid  pitfalls 
in  his  way,  even  frustrating  his  efforts  to  obtain  the  spoils  of 
the  chase  or  the  fruits  of  the  ground,  must  be  bought  off,  and 
the  devotee  knew  of  no  way  by  which  acceptance  could  be  so 
accurately  measured  as  by  the  self-denial  exercised  by  him  in 
giving  whatever  he  valued  most ;  so  that  in  Bible  story,  as  well 
as  in  mythology,  we  have  the  remains  of  this  demon  worship, 
as  the  apostle  properly  terms  it,  finding  victims  in  instances  of 
desperation  in  the  offering  by  a  man  of  his  firstborn  son. 

But  the  advance  to  a  cult  which  adopted  the  bull  as  its 
symbol  is  more  than  a  mere  change  of  idols  —  it  marks  the  ad- 
vent of  a  new  concept  of  the  unseen  being,  and  is  dependent  on 
the  revelation  or  tradition  of  God,  and  man's  relation  to  Him 
in  the  position  of  His  benefactor. 

Perhaps  the  difference  in  knowledge  of  God  was  the  differ- 
ence between  the  primeval  race  and  the  Adamic ;  the  former  a 
gross  and  sensual  being,  hardly,  if  at  all,  responsible,  the  latter 
a  living  soul.  The  former  doomed  to  extinction,  but  mean- 
while striking  its  moribund  fangs  into  the  heart  and  life  of  the 
sons  of  God,  according  to  the  Scriptures,  thoughtfully  read  and 
liberally  interpreted. 

The  first  mention  in  the  Bible  of  a  forbidden  system  of 
worship  is  in  the  case  of  Laban's  teraphim,  a  domestic  sooth- 
saying implement,  stolen  by  Rachel  in  her  elopement  with 
Jacob,  and  concealed  by  her  among  the  baggage  on  which  she 

65 


was  seated.  However,  it  should  be  noted  that  Joshua  (xxiv  :  2) 
reminds  the  people  of  Israel  in  his  parting  address  that  Terah 
of  old  served  "other  gods,"  and  the  rabbinical  account  of  the 
"call  of  Abraham"  resembles  the  story  of  Gideon's  treatment  of 
Baal  (read  Judges  vi :  24-32),  but  the  nature  of  the  Chaldean 
worship,  judged  from  other  sources,  is  more  likely  to  have  been 
the  adoration  of  the  heavenly  bodies  than  the  setting  up  of  a 
symbol  of  divinity,  though  the  calf  may  have  been  their  racial 
totem,  for  in  our  day  the  totems  of  clans  and  nations  drawn 
from  historical  or  mythical  circumstances  are  not  always  objects 
of  worship.  Although  the  peculiar  relationship  of  the  Alaskan 
to  his  totem  pole  be  quite  spiritual,  yet  one  can  not  say  so  much 
of  the  lion  of  England,  the  bear  of  Russia,  nor  the  thistle  of 
Scotland  and  shamrock  of  Ireland,  all  emblems  and  historical 
landmarks,  with  much  more  meaning  than  the  displayed  arms 
of  an  archbishop  or  the  quartered  shield  of  a  petty  German 
prince. 

Whatever  place  the  calf  emblem  had  in  the  worship  of 
monists  previous  to  the  going  down  into  Egypt,  there  is  inci- 
dental proof  that  the  Apis,  brought  into  that  land  by  the  Semitic 
dynasty  which  favored  Joseph,  was  used  as  a  means  of  worship 
by  Israel  in  that  country.  The  revelation  of  the  name  of  Jeho- 
vah which  was  accompanied  with  the  assurance  that  He  was  the 
God  (Elohim)  of  the  patriarchs  prior  to  the  twelve,  would  be 
meaningless  to  them  did  they  not  know  Him  to  be  a  spiritual 
being,  and  they  must  have  had  a  traditional  knowledge  of  His 
dealings  with  the  fathers.  At  the  time  of  the  birth  of  Moses 
the  midwives  are  said  to  have  "feared  God,"  and  in  godly  fear 
had  the  courage  to  obey  the  dictates  of  conscience,  rather  than 
the  command  of  the  king  to  destroy  all  the  Hebrew  male  chil- 
dren;  but  again  the  accusation  in  Ezekiel  is  that  when  God 

66 


proclaimed  his  intention  to  deliver  them  from  Egypt  the  Israel- 
ites did  not  cast  away  the  abominations  of  the  eye,  but  defiled 
themselves  with  the  idols  of  Egypt.  This  accusation  is  repeated 
in  a  distressing  figure  of  speech  in  another  part  of  the  same 
prophecy. 

Nothing  further  can  be  gathered  from  direct  history  nor 
from  the  retrospect  of  the  prophets ;  so  the  next  standpoint  is 
at  Sinai,  where  the  people  demand  Elohim  to  go  before  them 
through  the  wilderness.  The  first  thought  induced  in  the  mind 
of  the  reader  would  be,  that  the  god  desired,  seeing  that  all 
divinities  of  that  age  were  looked  on  as  tribal  or  national, 
could  not  be  one  of  the  Egyptian  deities ;  but  here  again  the 
dynasty  of  the  shepherd  kings  has  been  superseded,  and  the 
naturalized  god  might  not  hold  a  place  as  local  divinity  in 
Egypt  now  that  "a  king  had  arisen  that  knew  not  Joseph."  Con- 
sistently enough  they  might  reason  that  the  spirit  of  the  emblem 
of  the  Northeast  would  lead  them  back  to  the  land  where  the 
object  of  worship  was  that  of  the  fathers.  Now  the  apostle 
Paul  lays  it  down  as  an  axiom  that  where  there  is  no  law  there 
can  be  no  transgression,  but  Israel  had  received  this  command 
to  abolish  the  representation  of  God;  the  narrative  gives  it, 
and  the  Psalms  and  prophecies  assert  it,  before  the  second 
ascent  of  Moses  to  the  presence  of  God  on  Sinai,  so  that  it 
was  done  in  the  face  of  a  positive  prohibition  fresh  in  the  minds 
of  all,  the  argument  from  this  latter  being  that  such  an  open, 
unanimous,  defiant  transgression  points  to  a  custom  of  long 
standing  and  general  practice.  The  record  shows  that  Aaron 
yielded  to  their  demand  —  evidently  they  knew  of  his  profi- 
ciency in  this  art  —  and  requesting  their  gold  ornaments,  a  large 
collection  was  made  which  he  melted  on  an  open  hearth,  then 
watching  the  pool  with  its  pelagian  streamlets  for  indications  of 

67 


success,  or  auguries  of  the  approval  of  the  unseen,  or  as  in 
subsequent  divination  finding  out  the  thing  indicated  by  the 
shape  taken  by  the  molten  metal  as  it  lay  on  the  ground,  he 
concluded  that  the  powers  were  favorable,  and  that  the  shape 
of  the  metal  indicated  the  hide  of  the  sacred  emblem.  He  then 
carved  a  core  of  wood  and  covered  it  with  the  gold,  making  a 
molten  and  graven  image,  which  the  people  recognized  as  the 
exact  thing  they  had  wanted  —  the  Elohim  of  Egypt,  hitherto  or 
till  within  a  week  or  thereabout,  tolerated  in  the  worship  of  El- 
Shaddai,  the  god  of  their  fathers.  Aaron  appoints  a  feast  to 
the  newly  revealed,  self-existent,  the  "Will  Be"  in  whose 
presence  Moses  had  been  presumably  swallowed  up,  and  a 
shameful  orgie  next  day  took  place,  which  even  the  mixed  mul- 
titude abstained  from  and  derided. 

The  punishment  which  followed  was  sufficient  to  deter  any 
further  attempt  to  combine  the  gratification  of  the  body  with 
devotion  of  the  soul,  and  the  Israelite  who  was  weary  of  obedi- 
ence to  God  in  a  prescribed  form  of  worship,  fell  back  on  the 
astrology  of  the  more  thoughtful  of  his  forefathers,  who,  ob- 
serving, admired,  wondered  at  and  then  worshipped  the  heav- 
enly bodies,  preparing  their  hearts  and  minds  for  that  apothe- 
osis of  the  planets  which  among  all  the  civilized  peoples  of 
antiquity,  from  the  Amorites  to  the  Romans,  was  the  basis  of 
the  grossest  immoralities  in  social  life,  and  these  religious  rites 
became  the  snare  to  the  sensual  among  the  future  inhabitants 
of  Palestine. 

When  the  conquest  of  the  land  was  practically,  though  not 
thoroughly,  achieved,  Joshua  commanded  the  people  to  put 
away  the  teraphim  from  among  them,  but  the  mention  of  a 
graven  and  molten  image  does  not  occur ;  of  the  former  there 
will  be  notice  taken  in  discussing  that  form  of  mistaken  devo- 


tion,  but  there  is,  without  doubt,  a  reappearance  of  the  bovine 
cult  on  the  occasion  of  Gideon's  victory  over  Midian.  The 
national  voice  was  in  favor  of  making  him  king,  which  honor 
he  refused,  and  now  comes  a  passage  which,  as  it  stands,  is 
wholly  unintelligible.  Gideon  invites  the  victorious  Israelites 
to  the  dedication  of  the  jewelry  which  they  had  taken  off  the 
persons  of  the  Midianites,  and  the  confederate  Ishmaelites, 
who  delighted  in  ornaments  of  gold  worn  in  a  barbaric  form. 
With  evident  prepense  and  preparation,  accountable  only  to 
some  prevalent  consent,  either  traditional  or  of  continued  ob- 
servance, he  melts  the  gold,  and,  the  text  says,  of  that  made  an 
"ephod,"  which  is  evidently  a  mistake  of  the  transcriber,  and 
although  commentators  have  striven  with  determination  amount- 
ing to  bigotry  to  uphold  the  integrity  of  the  original  text,  assert- 
ing that  an  ephod  could  be  made  of  cloth  of  gold  or  embroid- 
ered richly  with  gold  thread  on  a  linen  fabric,  yet  the  idolatry 
of  Israel  never  could  be  paralleled  in  either  former  or  subse- 
quent times  with  this  worship  of  an  apron.  Nations  have  some 
connecting  link  between  the  means  of  worship  and  the  being 
adored,  but  where  is  the  divinity  of  idea  in  the  apron?  The 
solution  is  given  in  part  by  modern  scholarship  in  brief  form, 
that  the  transcriber  wrote  the  word  we  have,  instead  of  Elohim. 
Of  course  the  "verbally  inspired"  school  protest,  but  what  a 
Bible  reader  wants  is  understanding  of  the  text,  not  a  meaning- 
less verbiage.  Gideon  declined  the  honor  and  responsibilities 
of  monarchy,  but  to  consolidate  Israel  he  produced  the  ancient 
symbol  of  the  nation,  and  that  central  point  where  it  was  placed 
was  designed  by  him  as  a  rallying  place,  where,  under  the  "old 
flag,"  as  modern  patriots  would  express  themselves,  Israel 
would  be  unified,  instead  of  the  fortuitous  and  atomatic  con- 
dition of  things  obtaining  hitherto.     Israel,  instead  of  utilizing 

69 


the  symbol,  as  an  Irishman  would  the  shamrock,  or  a  Russian 
the  bear,  the  one  a  memento  of  religious  unity  and  the  other  of 
civil  combination,  went  further,  and  paid  to  the  symbol  the 
devotion  due  to  the  object  and  cause,  as  the  highly  but  uncon- 
ventionally figurative  language  expresses  their  conduct,  the  fact 
being  that  sensuality  does  follow  in  the  train  of  this  kind  of 
devotional  disobedience. 

Somewhere  about  a  century  later,  we  have  the  record  of 
Micah,  who  dedicates  some  silver  which  he  had  retrieved,  to 
the  making  of  a  molten  image  and  the  domestic  teraphim,  and 
then  the  robbery  of  the  "whole  outfit,"  using  a  most  expressive 
and  therefore  allowable  slang;  the  tribe  of  Dan  leave  the 
divinely  allotted  territory,  invade  a  peaceful  settlement,  and 
install  a  form  of  worship  in  the  newly  named  city,  which  con- 
tinued until  the  Captivity. 

By  some  oversight  wholly  unaccountable,  this  clause  has 
been  overlooked  by  every  commentator  who  has  written  on 
Judges.  The  key  to  Israel's  calf  worship  under  the  kings  of 
the  North  is  furnished  by  this  clause,  for  which  see  Judges 
xviii :  30.  Not  only  so,  but  the  identity  of  the  calf  with  the 
phrase  "molten  and  (a)  graven  image"  is  here  established. 
The  student  who  takes  this  view  as  his  will  find  many  obscuri- 
ties clarified. 

And  now  comes  the  "Sin  of  Jeroboam,"  which  has  puzzled 
many  a  one  who  has  applied  the  word  idolatry  with  inconsid- 
erate generalization. 

What  was  there  in  this  cult  which  infatuated  the  kings  of 
Israel  to  their  own  destruction,  and  to  the  incurring  of  God's 
disfavor  on  the  nation? 

The  answer  may  be  gathered  from  the  foregoing.  The  calf 
was  not  an  invention  of  Jeroboam,  neither  was  it  an  Egyptian 

70 


god  which  he  had  learned  to  worship  while  he  was  a  fugitive 
in  that  land,  and  had  married  a  princess  of  that  land ;  in  truth, 
that  Egyptian  woman  had  become  a  convert  to  the  religion  of 
Israel,  as  her  interview  with  the  prophet  Ahijah  leads  us  to  infer ; 
she  had  reared  a  godly  son,  a  circumstance  incompatible  with 
an  idolatrous  household.  True,  Jeroboam  had  seen  this  bovine 
image  in  that  land  of  Egypt,  but  it  is  very  likely  that  but  little 
respect  was  being  paid  to  it,  and  whether  or  not  the  plain  state- 
ment is,  that  Jeroboam  being  confronted  by  a  most  difficult 
situation,  namely  the  autonomy  of  the  state  coupled  with  the 
division  of  the  church,  or  perhaps  if  stated  conversely  it  might 
be  plainer :  how  was  he  to  divide  the  tribes,  or  sever  the  ten 
from  the  two  politically,  while  annually  they  united  in  the 
celebration  of  an  allegiance  from  which  alone  they  believed  the 
state  to  hold  authority?  The  record  is  that  Jeroboam  "took 
counsel." 

Doubtless  "the  men  of  Issachar  who  had  understanding  of 
the  times  and  knew  what  Israel  ought  to  do,"  sketched  the 
religious  condition  of  the  ten  northern  tribes  and  deduced 
therefrom  a  policy. 

"We  have,"  they  would  say,  "a  minority  who  already  are 
religiously  independent  of  the  South,  and  have  no  sympathy 
with  the  lavish  and  formal  display  of  the  temple  worship." 
Even  the  founder  of  the  dynasty,  David  himself,  had  dis- 
counted the  inward  effect  of  this  outward  and  expensive  mag- 
nificence, saying,  "Sacrifice  and  burnt  offerings  thou  requirest 
not,  but  the  sacrifices  of  God  are  a  broken  and  a  contrite  heart." 
These  pious  people  assemble  on  some  hilltop  in  a  secluded 
place,  and  there,  confessing  sin,  make  an  atonement  on  the 
primitive  earth  altar,  and  afterwards  join  in  a  social  feast  on 
which  the  blessing  of  Jehovah  has  been  invoked,  while  some 

71 


member  of  those  brotherhoods  instituted  by  Samuel,  called 
"Sons  of  the  Prophets,"  instructs  the  gathering  in  the  law  of 
Jehovah.  They  are  few  in  number,  but  the  best  of  our  people, 
and  the  real  source  of  that  spirit  of  independence  which  re- 
nounced that  rule  and  oppression  of  the  South  which  enjoyed 
everything  but  contributed  nothing.  Jehovah  must  be  ac- 
knowledged, but  their  form  of  worship  was  never  popular  and 
never  designed  for  a  national  celebration,  for  it  is  both  exclusive 
and  serious  in  appearance  to  the  outside  observer.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  popular  trend  is  to  Dan,  where  the  ancient  Meso- 
potamian  totem  is  still  resorted  to,  with  its  fortune-telling  tera- 
phim;  the  thoughtless  and  ungovernable  resort  to  that  place, 
we  have  the  conscience  of  the  former  to  consider,  and  the  cus- 
toms and  traditions  of  the  other,  with  the  addition  of  their 
unreasoning  superstition.  The  toleration  of  the  former,  with 
the  patronizing  of  the  latter,  on  a  basis  satisfactory  to  both,  is 
our  problem;  and  as  the  majority  will  always  be  the  national 
or  calf  party,  we  can  please  them  and  take  our  chances  with 
the  minority,  the  Puritans. 

The  silver  calf  image  in  Dan  we  shall  supplement  with  a 
gold  one,  thus  flattering  the  prejudice  of  the  common  peasantry, 
while  to  forestall  any  danger  from  great  popular  gatherings 
at  the  extremity  of  the  nation's  territory,  where  the  lawless- 
ness which  gave  inception  to  the  settlement,  may  still  give  char- 
acter to  it ;  besides,  to  divert  the  half-hearted  to  a  locality  tra- 
ditionally sacred,  we  shall  establish  another  national  symbol 
at  Bethel,  where  decency  and  respectability  will  sustain  the 
state  cult. 

The  gold  calf  was  captured  and  carried  to  Assyria  by  Tig- 
lath-pileser  before  the  captivity,  so  that  the  original  calf  of 
silver  outlasted  it,  but  the  one  established  at  Bethel  was  re- 

72 


moved  to  Gilgal,  as  far  as  we  may  judge  from  Hosea's  expostu- 
lations, and  ten  years  later  taken  by  Shalmaneser. 

Having  thus  sketched  the  history  of  the  cult,  as  well  as  en- 
deavoring to  explain  its  fundamental  principle  or  underlying 
idea,  the  next  question,  is,  what  was  the  mistake,  or  wherein 
lay  its  offensiveness  to  Jehovah,  and  how  was  the  national  char- 
acter demoralized  and  the  nation  weakened  by  this  cult? 

Categorically,  one  might  answer  that  it  was  a  form  of  wor- 
shipping Jehovah  wholly  unauthorized  and  therefore  forbidden 
and  offensive. 

The  principal  fault  lay  in  the  taking  from  a  secular  use  an 
emblem  and  then  employing  it  in  a  sacred  use  without  authority, 
God,  who  knows  the  heart,  being  the  best  judge  of  how  it  may 
be  brought  into  relationship  and  accord  with  Him. 

Then  it  was  a  looking  back.  God  had  winked  at  this  while 
ignorance  prevailed,  but  now  He  had  manifested  His  name,  His 
glory  and  His  authority,  and  the  national  slogan  given  to  Moses 
was,  "Go  forward."  Returning  to  the  beggarly  elements  was 
the  threatened  danger  of  the  early  church,  and  Judaism  today 
is  rising  in  protest  and  warning  against  this  retrogression  of 
mind  on  the  part  of  her  people,  who  fail  to  hear  tlie  voice  of 
God  in  the  world's  forward  march. 

But  reading  between  the  lines,  first  taking  the  celebration 
at  Sinai  for  information,  there  was  no  confession  of  sin,  no 
abasement  of  heart  and  in  consequence  there  was  no  provision 
for  atonement.  The  prophetic  cult  in  the  North  was  strong  in 
this  particular  and  was  therefore  the  strength  of  the  nation. 
But  when  Ephraim  sinned  in  Baal,  then  he  died.  The  same 
passage  tells  of  the  transition  through  the  calf  cult  to  this  debas- 
ing and  destroying  celebration  of  the  sensual  in  human  nature, 

73 


the  exaltation  of  animalism  over  the  spiritual,  until  animalism 
itself  is  left  behind  in  their  detestable  orgies.  Every  fraternal 
order,  every  association  for  ethical  culture,  every  esthetic  club 
is  on  the  level  with  the  calf  cult,  in  that  their  ritual  for  worship 
in  all  cases  ignores  the  existence  of  guiltiness  before  God.  In 
consequence,  the  reformations  in  Judah  which  began  with  hu- 
miliation for  personal,  social  and  national  sins,  had  no  place  in 
the  calf  cult,  and  the  charges  brought  against  Israel  by  the 
faithful  but  few  prophets  at  the  close  of  national  life  are 
that  the  burning  of  incense  and  the  frivolities  of  the  calf  wor- 
ship had  produced  oppression,  injustice,  luxury  and  social  im- 
purity, until  the  natural  result,  called  the  "wrath  of  God,"  was 
spoliation  by  the  fierce  and  hardy  Aramites,  and  later  Assyr- 
ians, as  the  former  of  the  two  began  to  fall  from  the  same 
causes  which  morally  affected  Israel. 

Even  the  prophets  who  came  again  under  toleration  after 
the  outbreak  at  the  time  of  Jezebel,  failed  to  testify  when  they 
stood  before  Ahab,  to  give  counsel  regarding  the  expedition  to 
Ramoth  Gilead.  The  favor  of  the  king  had  weakened  the 
faithfulness  of  the  great  majority  of  the  sons  of  the  prophets, 
yet  shortly  afterwards  the  prophet  Elisha  seems  to  have  inspired 
them  with  new  life  for  a  time,  ending,  however,  in  the  shameless 
sycophant,  Amaziah,  who  denounced  the  courageous  Amos  to 
King  Jeroboam  II,  but  apparently  without  success.  Jonah  was 
probably  the  last  of  these  monitors,  who,  while  preserving  his 
integrity,  maintained  himself  in  the  king's  favor.  Zechariah, 
prophesying  Israel's  general,  radical  and  final  revival,  declares 
that  the  rough  garment  worn  only  to  deceive  shall  be  discarded, 
and  the  office  of  prophet  shall  become  so  unpopular  that  a  man's 
father  and  mother  will  thrust  him  through  rather  than  bear  the 
disgrace  of  having  fostered  a  prophet. 

74 


The  strange  gods  or  teraphim  with  which  the  calf  cult  was 
associated,  and  the  form  of  which  is  not  positively  certain,  was 
the  survival  of  that  negative  religiosity  which  is  extant  in  those 
departures  from  God  which  find  expression  in  modern  necro- 
mancy, and  in  the  various  forms  of  witchcraft  advertised  in  the 
Sunday  papers.     From  first  to  last  it  is  the  feeling  of  insecurity 
on  account  of  hidden  malignant  powers,  the  remains  if  not  the 
survival  of  the  ancient  cult  of  the  serpent.     In  modern  times 
professedly  Christian  people  believe  that  lurking  behind  some 
innocent  incident,  such  as  the  placing  of  thirteen  at  a  table,  this 
malignant  demon  finds  an  opening  for  doing  some  harm  to  the 
bodies  or  fortune  of  host  or  guest.     The  teraphim  not  only  was 
a  concession  to  this  negative  side  of  devotion,  but  it  could  be 
used  or  made  to  disclose  matters  of  futurity.     The  mascot  of 
our  day  represents  the  teraphim  in  its  reputed  power  to  avert 
evil  fortune  to  the  possessor,  and  it  had  its  sphere  in  predicting 
the  good  fortune  it  influenced,  just  as  in  our  day  those  licensed 
imposters  predict  the  best  to  those  who  pay  the  most,  only  that 
this  scandal  on  modern  enlightenment  was  not  so  openly  mer- 
cenary in  olden  times  —  in  fact  a  deal  more  respectable.     The 
first  we  hear  of  the  teraphim  in  the  Bible,  as  before  noted,  was 
as  a  household  asset  in  Syria,  and  the  last  of  it  in  Israel  the 
writer  believes  he  traced  in  the  story  of  the  "Homunculus," 
told  him  by  a  Jew  whose  mind  was  a  treasure  house  of  tradition, 
or  perhaps  more  graphically  an  "old  curiosity  shop."     He  said 
that  the  image  of  a  diminutive  human  being  had  been  preserved 
secretly  by  one  family  of  Jews  in  a  university  city  in  Italy, 
where  it  was  left  unused,  but  kept  as  a  curiosity.     Some  Jews, 
discouraged  by  the  persecutions  and  exactions  to  which  the  race 
was  subjected,  and  despairing  of  help  from  the  expected  and 
right  source  —  for  prayers  seemed  wholly  ineffectual  —  deter- 

75 


mined  to  consult  the  homunculus,  and  called  at  the  home  in  the 
Ghetto  where  it  was  reported  to  be  in  keeping.  The  master  of 
the  home  becoming  aware  of  their  purpose,  absented  himself  for 
a  little  while  and  then  returning  led  them  to  an  attic  room  where 
he  showed  them  the  fragments  of  the  last  of  the  teraphim. 
There  is  a  kindred  story  of  the  pronunciation  of  the  divine  name 
which  some  young  rabbis  wished  to  learn,  but  the  single  pos- 
sessor of  the  secret  deeming  that  the  purpose  of  the  inquirers 
was  irreverent  curiosity,  uttered  the  word  so  indistinctly  in 
the  part  of  the  service  where  it  should  be  pronounced,  that  they 
could  not  catch  it  as  a  certainty,  and  then  the  aged  rabbi  died 
before  he  had  occasion  to  pronounce  again  the  ineffable  name,  so 
the  name  of  Israel's  god  is  lost  forever.  A  curious  parallel  to 
the  phase  of  teraphim  and  homunculus  in  which  the  secrets  of 
the  future  are  in  their  keeping,  may  be  traced  in  the  traditional 
leprechaun  of  the  Irish,  who,  at  the  time  when  the  clear  light  of 
primitive  Christianity  beamed  among  them  more  than  else- 
where in  the  world,  still  held  to  the  belief  that  the  unseen  con- 
tained powers  inimical  to  the  people's  welfare  and  who  possessed 
a  knowledge  of  the  future  which  Christianity  could  not  or 
would  not  supply.  The  leprechaun  was  the  earthly  manifesta- 
tion of  one  of  those  elves  who  could  be  made  to  divulge  one's 
fortunes  if  taken  by  surprise,  the  elves  themselves  as  a  body 
being  the  special  enemies  of  the  cattle  of  those  whom  they 
plagued,  and  of  motherhood,  whose  offspring  they  carried  away, 
substituting  their  own  peevish  and  ill-thriving  infants. 

The  first  look  at  the  winged  figures  of  Assyria  should  bring 
to  mind  the  visions  before  referred  to  in  Ezekiel,  Isaiah  and 
Revelations  ;  and  the  first  thought  may  well  be — these  creations 
indicate  a  belief  in  demons  which  display  not  a  single  benevo- 
lent symbol.     The  man-faced  creature  is  not  the  man  whom  we 

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could  acknowledge  and  associate  with ;  the  ox  with  wings  and 
an  eagle's  head  is  not  the  benefactor  and  docile  servant  of  man. 
They  are  distorted  and  composite  traditions  of  the  cherub  who 
denied  mankind  entrance  into  the  place  where  his  progenitors 
were  happy.  He  was  four-faced,  warlike,  vengeful,  one  to  be 
dreaded  as  an  antagonist  to  mankind.  The  teraphim,  with  its 
plural  form  and  single  entity,  has  eluded  the  research  of  all 
inquiry  and  even  tradition  gives  no  light  regarding  its  form. 
It  was  not  large,  for  Rachel  concealed  the  image  among  the 
furniture  of  her  camel,  and  it  had  some  semblance  to  the  human 
figure  or  countenance,  for  Michal  deceived  the  messengers  of 
Saul  by  substituting  it  for  David  as  it  lay  on  the  couch.  It 
was  carried  to  the  battlefield  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  its  pur- 
pose made  known  when  he  consulted  it  regarding  the  course  of 
his  campaign.  Zechariah  says  that  the  teraphim  have  foretold 
falsehoods,  and  with  these  particulars  in  mind  we  conclude  that 
resort  was  had  to  the  positive  agent  in  man's  welfare  at  Dan 
when  men  were  fortunate  and  in  thankful  mood,  while  reverses 
and  anxieties  looked  to  the  negative  instrument.  The  calf  in 
the  first  instance,  the  teraphim  in  the  other  case. 

The  modern  scholarship  asserts  that  before  the  Captivity 
Israel  had  no  notion  of  a  power  antagonistic  to  Jehovah,  while 
the  fact  is  that  the  effort  to  propitiate  the  enemy,  and  to  extort 
from  him  the  knowledge  that  Jehovah  concealed,  or  only  re- 
vealed through  the  breastplate  of  the  high  priest,  was  the  enemy 
or  nullifier  of  the  only  acceptable  offering  that  intelligence  can 
offer  to  God  —  the  mental  sacrifice  of  faith  accompanied  by  the 
heart  sacrifice  of  penitence. 


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